Kelt hit gold with an extraordinary star

Wednesday was a disappointing night for CelticBut this remains a season of progress for Brendan Rodgers‘page.

The hoops have reached the Champions League Knockout phase for the first time since 2012/13, accumulating 12 points of eight league phase nodes, mostly holding Atalanta to the bunch in Bergamo and beating RB Leipzig at home.

So their reward was a confrontation with Bundesliga leaders Bayern from Munich, and the record on Wednesday visited the typically swinging Parkhead, but that would be shown that the bridge was too far for Celte.

Bayern left Glasgow 2-1, winners, Daizen MaedaThe header of the second half that caused a late attack, but there was no equalization, leaving Bhoys with the mountain to climb in Bavaria on Tuesday.

Despite the defeat, it was an appearance that all Celtic supporters can be proud of, and one defensive monk is especially distinguished.

Previous Stars of Right Beck Celtic

In seven and a half seasons, Mikael Lustig was Celtic’s undisputed right back of the first choice.

The Swede arrived from Rosenborg on a free transfer In January 2012, giving 276 performances in the hoops, winning eight consecutive premiership titles, as well as four Scottish Cups and four League Cup.

By the moment went for the gent 2019. He did this as unambiguous Fans favoriteswith Rodgers describing him as “Very important.”

His heir to the right back would be Jeremie Frimpong who arrived from Man City at the age of 19 without experience from the first team for Applied fee in the amount of £ 350,000.

Well, this would prove to be excellent business because, only 18 months and 51 performances Later was sold to Bayer Leverkusen for £ 11.5 million.

The next right back would be one of the many favorable signatures of Ange Postecoglou.

Similar to Frimpong, Josip Juranovic spent only 18 months in Celtics, also did something 50 performancesarrival from Legia Warszawa for £ 2.5 million In June 2021, before union Berlin joined for £ 7.5 millionplus £ 2.5 million in potential accessories, shortly after the Catar World Cup.

In short, this trio undergoes the fact that Celtics has always had top right -wing backs, and the current tenant of that position certainly belongs to the same class, perhaps surpassing them all.

Celtic’s Unsung Hero in Defense

In order to preventively replace Juranovic, the hoops were signed by Alistaira Johnston of MLS, Club de Foot Montréal for £ 3.5 million In January 2023, this also proved to be a major contract, and Canada International is now worth about three times more than that amount, which is £ 7.5 million accurately According to Transfermarkt.

When Johnstone signed a new contract in November, Rodgers Described this as “Fantastic news,” adding that the full back was immediately established as a fantastic player. “

Wednesday night against Bayern saw Johnston making his own 97. Appearance For the club, sitting only 19 games from your debut, which is quite extraordinary considering that Need ankle surgery In the summer of 2023.

This season was achieved by full back Four goals and scored eight assistsmeaning Only 13 currents Scottish premiership players, in all competitions, accumulated more participation in the goal this season, which is not bad for veterans.

So, let’s see Johnston compares that Frempong and Juranovic are compared.

As the table shows, Johnston is certainly comparable to its two predecessors, surpassing both of them for defense metrics, namely the fighting, intercepting and recovery of the ball, warning that if he ended up 90 minutes against Dundee United on Saturday, he will play, he will play More minutes for the club than Juranovic and Frimpong.

Still, Canadian has certainly proven to be a great value for money and a great part of scouting, revealing a player who was the 11th choice At MLS Superdraft just five years ago.

As he noted Tom Nightingale from Canada Football DailyJohnston won ten duels against Bayern this week, more than any other player on the field, previously describing it As “extraordinary”, emphasizing that the back is still impressing.