THE January transfer window brought the welcome return of Jota to Celtic Park. Though his first appearance of his second spell came at Fir Park—where he delivered a goal at the first opportunity—the sight of Jota at Celtic Park as Brendan Rodgers’ side took on Dundee would ordinarily have seen the January business as a huge success.
However, with Kyogo bidding farewell and no recruitment in the goalscoring department, there was a sense of frustration amongst the support that January sales hadn’t delivered. Granted, Adam Idah made the permanent move to Celtic in the summer for big money—and has shown real promise recently in front of goal—but the demand to continually strengthen and improve took a little mis-step with the exit of a genuine star player.
As a sign that it takes a lot more than that to derail Celtic, a real glut of goals followed Kyogo’s move—14 in three matches on the domestic front—and the reality that Celtic have ample resources to hold their place as the best side in the country has meant that the club can still confidently enter the phase of the season where they have traditionally made the rest of Scottish football suffer.
The form of Daizen Maeda and Nicolas Kühn in particular is the stuff of nightmares for anyone thinking about trying to stop Celtic.
Mammoth Munich task
The Champions League showdown with Bayern Munich will, naturally, show a real gulf in quality, but that gulf would only have been slightly altered had Celtic retained Kyogo’s service, and the immediate build-up to that fixture—as The Irish Voice goes to press—was more notable for the absence of Maeda than Kyogo. The surprising announcement of Maeda’s availability, though, lifted spirits ahead of the match given his stunning recent level of performance.
One area where they may have added real quality is the left back position, with the arrival on load of Jeffrey Schlupp. Before he even touched the ball he already looked more of the profile for a Champions League player—a level at which the diminutive Celtic side often look like they are entering the land of the giants.
On the ball he looked a little rusty, but he will surely adapt to the pace and style of the team as he picks up appearances.
One fact he will have to adapt to in his short time in Glasgow is the disparity of opposition, with Celtic jumping from a match against Raith Rovers in the Scottish Cup to the Champions League tie against the German giants.
Celtic played a part, of course, in the link between those two clubs, with the minnows of Raith Rovers holding a 1-0 lead against Bayern Munich deep into the match that they contested in the 1995 Uefa Cup. Raith entered that rarified atmosphere having shocked Celtic in the League Cup Final, and having delivered another dose of payback to the Kirkaldy side—thumping the visitors 5-0 in this year’s edition of the Scottish Cup—Celtic will look to channel some of the spirit they showed that famous night in Munich.
Of course, Raith’s hopes were ultimately snuffed out by Bayern, but their efforts show that with 11 men against 11 the prospect of a shock is aways present—no matter the scale of the task.
Dazzling Daizen
The headlines following the cup victory over Raith Rovers were grabbed by Maeda, who grabbed a hat-trick and demonstrated his flexibility in the post-Kyogo Celtic.
Rodgers singled him out for praise in the aftermath of that routine disposal, saying: “Anyone who has done any depth of work on Daizen before he came in here, you’ll see he played as a striker at Yokohama and the various range of goals that he scored.
“He might not be your traditional No. 9, but he runs in behind, is mobile, has speed and can make those finishes in the box.
“His three goals today were great. He can score different types of goals. He’s been absolutely sensational this season with his work rate. Because it’s not just the 21 goals, it’s everything else he brings to the team. I’m so happy for him.”
The news that Maeda will be togging out against the Germans was the greatest boost Celtic could have hoped for. To launch an ambush of one of Europe’s most successful teams Celtic will need every yard of pressing Maeda can bring. His engine and determination off the ball is one area where Celtic can really say they have one of Europe’s best, and the recent addition of regular goals to that celebrated ability make him a huge asset to the club. If he turns it on against Bayern he will give Celtic their best possible chance of an upset.
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