Celtic have made a terrific begin to the new-look format within the Champions League this season and have already amassed their factors whole from final season.
The Hoops completed backside of their group, racking up 4 factors in six matches, within the 2023/24 marketing campaign, as Brendan Rodgers‘ aspect crashed out of Europe in dismal model.
Nevertheless, the change to a league section format, for the primary time within the competitors’s historical past, has seemingly helped the Scottish giants to seek out their ft within the match.
Celtic have received two, drawn one, and misplaced one in every of their opening 4 matches within the Champions League, leaving them on seven factors, with their most up-to-date win coming in opposition to RB Leipzig on Tuesday evening.
The Hoops will now be hoping that the second half of their league section marketing campaign is as profitable and that they can make it via to the knock-out phases of the competitors in 2025.
Rodgers will want his gamers to proceed to step up and carry out within the Champions League and one former Celtic star who caught the attention on the European stage was attacking midfielder Lubomir Moravcik.
Lubomir Moravcik’s Celtic profession in numbers
The Slovakian whiz produced three goals and two assists in 15 matches as a central midfielder in European competitions for the Scottish giants, and each of these assists got here in simply three Champions League outings.
He registered two assists in three video games, in opposition to Juventus, Porto, and Rosenborg, in the course of the 2001/02 Champions League marketing campaign for Celtic.
Former Hoops manager Martin O’Neill described the Slovakia worldwide as one of the two-footed gamers he had ever labored with, and hailed his expertise as “wonderful”. He additionally went so far as to say that Moravcik was one of the “gifted” gamers he had ever seen, throughout his taking part in and managerial profession.
The mercurial playmaker spent nearly 4 years at Parkhead, between 1998 and 2002, and caught the attention along with his thrilling performances in the course of the park, which earned him such excessive reward from O’Neill.
In these 4 seasons, the previous Saint-Etienne magician contributed with a return of 31 goals and 14 assists in 118 appearances in all competitions for the Scottish giants, together with six objectives and 9 assists in 21 outings within the Scottish Premiership within the 2001/02 marketing campaign.
These statistics present that he was a central midfielder who might make a distinction, with objectives and assists, within the closing third for Celtic, domestically and in Europe.
Moravcik, who scored four goals in 14 video games in opposition to Rangers, won three domestic cups and two Premiership titles throughout his time in Glasgow, which exhibits that his objectives and assists contributed to silverware for the Hoops.
It has been over 22 years for the reason that midfield whiz moved on from Parkhead however the membership might have unearthed their new model of Moravcik by hitting gold with Reo Hatate.
How a lot Celtic paid for Reo Hatate
Within the January switch window at the beginning of 2022, former Celtic head coach Ange Postecoglou moved to signal the Japanese maestro from J-League champions Kawasaki Frontale for a reported fee of £1.4m.
It has turned out to be a discount signing for the Scottish giants as a result of the terrific expertise has gone on to emerge as a star for the Hoops in current seasons.
The Japan worldwide hit the bottom operating at Parkhead with a return of four goals and three assists in 17 appearances within the Premiership in the course of the second half of the 2021/22 marketing campaign.
In his first full season in Glasgow, Hatate contributed with nine goals and 11 assists in 45 appearances in all competitions, with 9 of these assists coming within the Premiership.
|
Damage |
Date |
Video games missed |
|---|---|---|
|
Calf muscle tear |
thirteenth August 2023 |
6 |
|
Hamstring harm |
twenty fifth October 2023 |
20 |
|
Calf harm |
twenty fifth March 2024 |
14 |
As you may see within the desk above, the central midfielder missed an enormous chunk of the 2023/24 marketing campaign via harm, which meant that Rodgers was unable to get the perfect out of him.
The 26-year-old star solely managed three goals and four assists in all competitions for Celtic, as his season was disrupted by a number of accidents.
Reo Hatate’s kind for Celtic
The Hoops star has averted any harm issues up to now this time period and has been accessible for each single match throughout all competitions for Rodgers, which has allowed him to construct up his consistency on the pitch.
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Scottish soccer account Inside The SPFL on X lately claimed that Hatate has “world class” potential and that he’s the primary Celtic participant since Lobo Moravcik to pick the sort of passes he performs, because the account said that the midfielder sees the sport “in another way” to others.
That’s severe reward for Hatate, given the Slovakian’s profession with Celtic and the reward he acquired from O’Neill as soon as upon a time, and it’s deserved, when you think about the extent of his performances at occasions.
The Japanese dynamo has produced one goal and one assist in 4 Champions League video games up to now this season, with a purpose coming in opposition to Leipzig on Tuesday evening.
|
24/25 Premiership |
Reo Hatate |
|---|---|
|
Appearances |
10 |
|
Sofascore ranking |
7.48 |
|
Objectives |
3 |
|
Huge probabilities created |
4 |
|
Assists |
0 |
As you may see within the desk above, Hatate has additionally caught the attention along with his shows within the Premiership for Rodgers, now that he has been capable of play constantly with out choosing up any harm points.
He has showcased his Moravcik-esque passing potential by creating 4 ‘huge probabilities’ for his teammates in ten matches, however their wasteful ending has stopped him from registering any assists so far.
The midfield ace, who was hailed as “outstanding” in opposition to Leipzig by pundit Chris Sutton, now has a market value of €10m (£8m) on Transfermarkt, due to his kind throughout his time with Celtic.
Associated
Celtic have a star with “world-class” potential and he’s their next Kuhn
The Celtic attacker has but to showcase the perfect of his talents in Scotland.
This exhibits that Hoops not solely struck gold by unearthing their new model of Moravcik in midfield however additionally they hit the jackpot by signing a participant for simply £1.4m and serving to his worth to soar over the following years.
