Nothing changes

Some things in life are inevitable, like death and taxes (!) and the customary away defeat in Europe. It's no disgrace to lose to a team from La Liga, and there was no disgrace in terms of the performance tonight. Not everyone will give Celtic the chance to keep the ball and run with it, so it's important to defend well. Needless to say, the loss of an early goal, from a set-piece, is not an example of defending well. Would it have been avoided if zonal marking had not been employed? Who knows? The second, killer blow could have been averted if Celtic had closed Atletico down more effectively, but they kept their distance more than they would do in the SPL. I wonder if this was in recognition of the fact that foreign refs give decisions you'd not see in Scotland, or are they just being too deferential to 'big' teams? I'm not sure if Neil left the substitutions a bit late (a lot earlier than in Switzerland, though), but Bangura looked off the pace (such as it was by that time), which could have been due to a reported groin strain. Here's hoping that the players and management learn from their so far limited European experiences and adapt to playing these types of teams. It's a steep learning curve for most of them, but this European 'reprieve' should be used purely for education. Oh, and the money.