For a club like Celtic coming up against Real Madrid, the attraction of this tie was all about the glamour.
Every right-minded Celtic fan knew that facing the Spanish giants was always going to be a tough ask and before we faced them, many in the Scottish media were telling us that Ange Postecoglou should adopt a more pragmatic style.
Ange decided to stick two fingers up to that and stuck with his values.
Attack your opponent. Take the game to them. Play with no fear.
And by God, it almost paid off.
This team have been getting plaudits from not only our opponents, but those in the media that would normally be slipping on steel toe capped size nines to boot us whilst we are down.
But Chris Sutton sees the bigger picture of what Ange is trying to achieve.
He’s seen it all along and he called it beautifully last night.
Commenting on BT Sport via BBC, Sutton said, “Ange Postecoglou is trying to change a mindset here.
“I like what he’s trying to do, and the message he’s trying to send.“
Because sitting back against these teams achieves nothing.
Yes, you may concede one or two goals less than you normally would by being more defensive, but what do you learn about yourself?
Absolutely nothing.
I’m with Sutton. This side’s mindset is changing when it comes to Europe and we saw that right up until the 90th minute when we didn’t give up trying to hurt our opponents.
Just imagine how much better we will be next season for this!
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