WHEN Joe Hart picked the ball out of his net following Feyenoord’s second goal last night the experienced keeper must have had that old familiar sinking feeling.
Celtic have conceded a massive FORTY-FOUR goals in their last 21 Euro ties with the 36-year-old 75 times-capped England keeper involved in 39 of the losses.
Hart, of course, has not been to blame for the landslide of shots and headers that have been crammed behind him, Scott Bain, four times, and Vasilis Barkas, one in his only European excursion under Ange Postecoglou’s reign.
ONE…Joe Hart is beaten by Calvin Stengs’ well-placed free-kick.
It’s been x-certificate stuff for the Hoops in recent years with the latest setback highlighting they have now lost 58.9 per cent of their Champions League games. Disturbingly, that is the highest ratio of any side with at least 50 games in the competition.
The defeat in Rotterdam means the Parkhead side have suffered losses in 43 of their 73 fixtures, according to BBC Sport.
Celtic have also conceded more away goals (2.4) than any other side to have played 30 away games in the tournament.
In their last 37 outings in Europe’s elite competition, the Hoops have shipped a ridiculous 89 goals in their last 37 matches on the road.
There has been a solitary clean sheet – the 3-0 victory over Anderlecht in Brussels in 2017 when Craig Gordon was in goal.
TWO…Joe Hart is left helpless as the unguarded Alireza Jahanbakhsh fires into the roof of the net.
Next up for Brendan Rodgers and his players are Lazio who drew 1-1 with Atletico Madrid in their opening Group E encounter in Rome.
Celtic will be aiming to record their first home win in the group stage in a decade. The last time they picked up thre points in the east end of Glasgow was in a 2-1 victory over Ajax in October 2013 when James Forrest and Beram Kayal claimed the strikes.
SEEING RED AS NINE-MAN CELTS CRASH
