'Doesn't happen very often': Celtic's Euro rivals fire ominous warning as striker completes rare 48-minute feat
Belgians will arrive in Glasgow in rude health after crushing win
Club Brugge sent out an ominous warning to Celtic ahead of next week’s Champions League clash, with the Belgian champions crushing Sint Truiden 7-0 in the Jupiler Pro League.
Nicky Hayen’s men are due at Celtic Park on Wednesday and they will touch down in Scotland in excellent spirits after their comprehensive triumph at the Jan Breydel Stadion on Saturday evening.
It was a memorable night in particular from Club Brugge’s Greek striker Christos Tziolis, who netted four goals in the first 48 minutes as the hosts took advantage of their visitors’ meek resistance. Raphael Onyedika, Ardon Jashari and Hans Vanaken also got on the scoresheet, with Sint Truiden ending the match with ten men after a red card for Isais Delpupo.
"We took control of the match from the beginning and we kept going,” said Club Brugge captain Vanaken. “They didn't let up and that's a strong performance by the team. A 7-0 win like that hasn't happened very often. In fact, I don't think I've experienced it yet in my 10-year career here."
Club Brugge remain in second place in the standings, six points behind leaders Genk after 15 rounds of fixtures in the Belgian top flight.
In the Champions League, they are currently on six points after four matches, a point worse off than Celtic, who prepared for the match with their own victory, a 4-1 triumph at Hearts. Despite losing to AC Milan and Dortmund, Hayen’s men picked up a valuable 1-0 win at Sturm Graz and stunned Aston Villa 1-0 in the last set of fixtures.
Former Celtic defender Dedryck Boyata is now at Club Brugge, although the 33-year-old will not be in attendance on Wednesday night after being left out of their European squad. The ex-Man City player has not played competitively under Hayen this season.
“I’m really disappointed not to be coming back to Celtic Park,” Boyata said in an interview with the Sunday Mail. “But my situation here was created before the Champions League squads were done.
“It was made especially difficult for me when I found out Brugge would be playing Celtic away. We were also drawn against Manchester City so it’s the two clubs where I did everything before.
“It was hard to hear. It would have meant a lot to me to come back to Glasgow and play at Celtic Park again. It’s a place where I spent four years of my life. I’d say that’s where I became a proper professional player.
“Celtic is the club that made me a man. And family-wise, myself and my wife had some great times over there. So it’s really disappointing not to be going back with Brugge. But it’s football. You can never have everything you want.
“Celtic was by far the best period of my career and one of my happiest times. Because as a young player, I was playing at City before but went to a place where I’d have the chance to play every week. And of course, there was the challenge at Celtic of trying to win trophies. That was a new experience for me.
“When you’re there you don’t realise it but you just never know how many times you’re going to get that in your career. That’s what I’d say to a player winning a cup - enjoy it because you don’t know when it will happen in the future. For sure, I probably had the best time of my life at Celtic.”
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