Sensational Nicolas Kuhn set Parkhead alight with a dream Champions League double for Celtic to beat RB Leipzig.
On Bonfire Night, the Hoops were too hot to handle for the Germans as Brendan Rodgers’ side secured a stunning 3-1 victory. Kuhn bagged a first-half-brace to put Celtic in front after Christoph Baumgartner had opened the scoring for the Bundesliga outfit. And Reo Hatate‘s second half strike killed Leipzig off to give Rodgers’ men seven points in the Champions League group phase so far. It puts Celtic in a terrific position to qualify for the knock-out rounds, with a home tie against Belgian side Club Brugge up next. Here’s 5 talking points from Parkhead.
You Kuhn do it
Kuhn once scored a cracking goal for RB Leipzig against FC Porto in the UEFA Youth Champions League seven YEARS ago.
But the German winger came back to haunt his old club last night at Parkhead with a dream first half double in Europe’s top competition. The wide man didn’t make the grade at RB before eventually moving to Ajax.
But they might have regretted letting him go by half-time here after he’d bagged a brace. His first goal to equalise was a thing of beauty, doing what he’s becoming renowned for at Celtic Park. He cut in from the left and clipped a delicious shot that curled beyond Peter Gulacsi and in off the post.
As if that wasn’t good enough he then put Brendan Rodgers’ men in front just before the break. Not content to hang out wide, Kuhn got himself in the box to get on the end of Greg Taylor’s cross to make it 2-1 – and sicken his former club.
When he first arrived in Glasgow from Rapid Vienna there were question marks over the 24-year-old but not now after lighting up Parkhead on the biggest stage.
Rodgers stands tall
WHEN Rodgers fell on his backside on Saturday, it was due to him being angry about a lack of speed in their game.
It’s the one thing that really irks the Celtic boss, when his team doesn’t pass or move with the tempo and intensity he demands.
And for spells last night against Leipzig, when they played at a rapid pace, the German side couldn’t live with them.
In the opening 15 minutes and once Nicolas Kuhn had got them level, they produced some super-quick combination play that was so easy on the eye – and so difficult to play against. They ramped it up before half-time when Kuhn got them in front.
And incredibly, they somehow managed to keep it up after the break, refusing to take their foot off the gas.
The flip side is that, for the short period in the first half when RB took control and got in front, it was because Celtic’s play had slowed down.
That’s why Rodgers gets so annoyed when they let their pace drop – and why he ended up on his a**e at Hampden.
Trusty deserved
It was a big call by Rodgers to pick Auston Trusty as his left centre-back against Leipzig ahead of the ever-reliable Liam Scales.
But when the manager openly admitted the American was selected at Hampden v Aberdeen purely for his pace – you always felt he’d get the nod over the Irishman again when they stepped up a level against the Bundesliga outfit.
Trusty started the game reasonably well but it was his slack pass that led to the Leipzig corner where they took the lead.
His loose ball was gobbled up by blue shirts and Lois Openda got a shot that Kasper Schmeichel had to turn round the post.
From the set-piece, Cameron Carter-Vickers should have done better before Christoph Baumgartner broke the deadlock with a back post header.
To his credit, Trusty recovered to produce an excellent display at the back.
And when Scales eventually did get off the bench in the second half, it was Carter-Vickers and not the £6 million man who came off.
It’s early in his Celtic career, but the signs are good that he’ll prove to be another quality acquisition.
Fortress Paradise?
Whisper it but Celtic Park might just be getting back to being a European fortress for the Hoops.
After a poor run of results in the Champions League and Europa League for a few years, Celtic have now won their last three in the continent’s top competition – and put themselves in a terrific position to go and qualify for the knock-out phase with seven points on the board already.
Feyenoord, Slovan Bratislava and now RB Leipzig have all been victims of Celtic’s terrific home performances. Back in the days of Martin O’Neill and Gordon Strachan, teams from Europe feared coming to Glasgow’s East End but it feels like that’s no longer been the case for too long.
Now, with Rodgers back at the helm, their stadium is a huge factor in these games. When the manager returned to the club, he said one of his primary goals was to make progress on the European stage. No-one is getting carried away just yet. But their recent home form in the Champions League suggests he’s at least making this place a cauldron again.
And after his plea to fans before it – last night proved you can have a party without Pyro.
Mac the knife
It feels like we’re running out of superlatives when it comes to Callum McGregor in a Celtic shirt. But the Hoops skipper, at 31, was superb again last night at Champions League level against top class opposition.
We shouldn’t be surprised by McGregor’s individual quality as he’s been showcasing that for years now. But the biggest compliment you can pay the Scot is that performances like last night’s in Europe just prove that – at his best – he can comfortably live in this type of company.
Make no mistake, McGregor could play in some of the continent’s top sides and not look out of place.
Thankfully for Celtic fans, of course, he’ll be going nowhere. Against Leipzig, he did everything. When he had to be aggressive and get in about the Germans to win the ball back, he did it. In possession, when Celtic quickened up their pace, he was at the heart of it. And crucially, when Rodgers’ side required someone to put their foot on it and calm everything down, he did that as well.
Always available for passes in front of the back four, he dictated his team’s tempo, almost from start to finish. Outstanding.