Celtic 0 - 1 Atletico Madrid: Celtic’s Euro hopes hang by a thread after defeat

CELTIC suffered their first home European defeat in two years to leave their hopes of remaining in continental competition beyond Christmas resting on a daunting assignment in Italy in 15 December.

A 30th minute goal from Turkish international striker Arda Turan, which Celtic goalkeeper Fraser Forster should have prevented, was enough to secure victory for Atletico Mad-rid and earn the Spanish side a place in the last 32 of the Europa League.

Neil Lennon’s men now need to win away to Udinese in their final Group I fixture in a fortnight if they are to join Atletico in the knockout phase. Defeat was harsh on Celtic last night when a draw would have been a fairer outcome from an enjoyable match. Even then, however, Celtic would still have been heading to northern Italy in need of all three points.

This was their first defeat in ten matches in all competitions but, although a disappointment for Lennon, it is not one which should necessarily stall the momentum they have gathered domestically in recent weeks.

In a contest as open as Lennon had predicted it might be, Celtic came perilously close to falling behind inside the opening minute. The loss of an early goal when the teams met in the first round of matches in Madrid proved a setback Celtic were unable to recover from, and they had the wastefulness of Eduardo Salvio to thank for not facing the same scenario last night.

Victor Wanyama was dispossessed by Diego, the Brazilian playmaker threading a pass to Adrian Lopez, who was denied a clear shooting chance by Glenn Loovens’ covering tackle.

It came at the expense of a corner kick which Celtic were unable to clear effectively and when Turan crossed the ball in from the left, Diego Godin nodded it back across the six-yard box to the unmarked Salvio. With the goal at his mercy, the Argentinian forward steered his free header wide.

If the Celtic goalkeeper was relieved on that occasion, he was extremely fortunate not to be punished for his own hesitancy during Atletico’s next raid. He was desperately slow to react when Turan whipped over another cross from the left, allowing Salvio to nip in and beat him to the ball. Salvio’s first touch was of insufficient quality to allow him to take full advantage and the danger was cleared.

Celtic responded smartly to create significant problems at the other end for an Atletico defence which appeared especially uneasy in dealing with set pieces.

Atletico goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who endured a miserable weekend when he was sent off during the 4-1 derby defeat at Real Madrid, made a valuable double contribution for his side in the 12th minute.

Ki Sung Yueng’s corner from the left was headed towards goal by Daniel Majstorovic, the ball finding Georgios Samaras lurking on the edge of the six-yard box. The Greek looked certain to score but his flicked effort was brilliantly turned behind by Courtois. The young Belgian keeper, on a season-long loan from Chelsea, showed excellent reactions again from the subsequent corner, delivered well once more by Ki, when he kept out an Anthony Stokes header.

Samaras appeared in the mood to build on his much-lauded weekend display against St Mirren and a weaving run into the Atletico penalty area saw Filipe Luis flirt dangerously with an own goal, the Brazilian defender scuffing the ball clear from inside the six-yard area.

Some fine hold-up play by Stokes, operating as the lone striker in the 4-2-3-1 formation Lennon has settled on for this competition, saw him evade the attention of four Atletico players to provide Samaras with a shooting chance from the edge of the penalty area but his effort was scooped over the top.

All of that promising endeavour by Celtic was undone by Forster’s error in the concession of a goal on the half-hour. Diego’s corner from the right was cleared as far as Turan some 20 yards out. Although his right-foot shot was struck well enough, Forster got both hands on the ball as he dived to his left but was only able to help it into the net. While the keeper may point to the failure of several of his team-mates, notably Beram Kayal, to block the shot as it travelled through a packed penalty area, it was unquestionably sloppy work on Forster’s part.

Lennon suffered another setback seven minutes before the interval when Joe Ledley fell awkwardly and had to be taken to the dressing room on a stretcher. He was replaced at left-back by Charlie Mulgrew.

Celtic made another change at half-time, withdrawing Wanyama and sending on Gary Hooper in switching to a 4-4-2 formation.

Celtic saw plenty of the ball in their efforts to draw level but struggled to penetrate the robust Atletico defence. Set pieces remained their best hope and Courtois produced a terrific one-handed save to turn a brilliantly struck free-kick from Ki over.

The home support then had celebrations of an equaliser cut short, Stokes penalised for controlling the ball with his arm as he helped Mulgrew’s header from a Ki corner on to Hooper, who netted from close range.

Atletico remained a threat on the counter attack with the Celtic defence surviving more than one anxious moment.

With 15 minutes left, club captain Scott Brown returned from a two-month injury lay-off to replace Stokes, and Brown saw a shot blocked in stoppage time as Celtic scrambled in vain for a share of the spoils.

Celtic: Forster, Matthews, Majstorovic, Loovens, Ledley (Mulgrew 38); Wanyama (Hooper 46), Kayal; Forrest, Ki, Samaras; Stokes (Brown 75). Subs not used: Zaluska, Bangura, McCourt, F Twardzik.

Atletico: Courtois, Perea, Godin, Miranda, Filipe; Gabi (Assuncao 90), Suarez, Turan (Juanfran 80); Diego; Salvio, Adrian (Falcao 69). Subs not used: Asenjo, Reyes, Dominguez, Koke.