Nothing prepares Celtic for the style of football match RB Leipzig brought to the party on Thursday.
Celtic started the evening harmonising over “Never Walk Alone” under the disco lights. Once the whistle went, the heavy metal football of the Germans took over and Celtic had to fight hard to avoid blood on the dance floor.
Mirroring Klopp’s fantastic Borussia Dortmund side, this was high risk, high press football unlike anyone else in Scotland attempts bar Hibernian but with far inferior players.
The nearest equivalence to eschewing careful built up to this extent was Heart of Midlothian away. In that match the two teams managed a combined 7.94 passes per defensive action (PPDA). Here it was a measly 5.59. But it was a ground based assault, not an aerial bombardment as at Tynecastle.
RB Leipzig barely took a backward pass, preferring to attempt line breaking forward passes wherever possible. Playing three forwards high invited Celtic on and they relished the challenge. RB Leipzig gave away 112 passes from open play, 14 more than any other opponent.
The reward for this approach was 55 successful forward passes that took out Celtic players. Although not as high as FC Salzburg achieved, it is significantly higher than the Scottish opponent average of 21. The Germans took out Celtic defenders 26 times, something Scottish teams only manage 9 times per game.
The pressure in the second half was relentless and RB Leipzig lost the ball 51 times in Celtic’s defensive third, which beat FC Salzburg by 1 and is 31 more than a domestic team manages.
Whilst Celtic were therefore forced into a season low 75% pass completion and a Possession Effectiveness rating of 70% (average for the season is 83%) it didn’t stop them being competitive in the game.
Celtic won possession back 63 times, 2 more than against Hibernian. Such was the pace the ball was moved around, and at such close quarters, 50 interceptions were actioned. This is 20 more than any other match.
Players had to fight where they stood. 85 tackles is more than every other match by 13. A total of 113 challenges matches the Heart of Midlothian game but in that “typically British” battle, 66 of them had been aerial.
It was a match played on a knife edge – Celtic were forced to win possession back 27 times in their own defensive third which is 10 more than against Kilmarnock. The corollary was they lost it 19 times in their own third. Despite this RB Leipzig were restricted to 15 shots, 5 of which were on target. This is still far more than Celtic normally face.
Respective Expected Goals (xG) of 1.627 vs 1.807 are testament to how attacking both teams were and the extent to which Celtic matched up to incredibly talented (and expensive) opponents.
Celtic deserve huge credit for holding out for a win against such opposition, but also for standing up to such a ferocious style of play so out of keeping with their week to week experiences.
90 minutes of AC/DC can be thrilling but it will leave you with a sore head.