Daizen Maeda’s red card in Madrid completely altered how things went for Celtic against Atletico. The Hoops were affected by the decision in countless negative ways.
They eventually suffered a 6-0 loss, but centre-back Liam Scales thinks the way the opposition bench reacted to the red card and their closeness to the VAR monitor was unfair to Celtic.
Scales played the full match for the Bhoys at centre-half. He said (Glasgow Times): “To be honest, you see the way they react and all of their staff are up off the bench. It definitely doesn’t help. The VAR screen is right beside their bench as well, and [the referee] was probably feeling the pressure. They are definitely more street-smart than us, that’s for sure, the way they influence the referee.”
The streetwise side to Atletico’s game is certainly something Celtic could learn from. The Scottish champions need to do better in some situations and not just accept and be content with everything.
Particularly in Europe, having that added edge to your game is crucial. Scales recognises this, and he and his teammates display more shrewdness and cynicality when they head to Lazio would be hugely intriguing.
