Celtic labelled a proper Champions League team by Aston Villa star after 'excellent' Villa Park display
Scotland international John McGinn has been reflecting on the Premier League’ giants 4-2 win over Brendan Rodgers’ men in Europe
Aston Villa and Scotland star John McGinn has been left in no doubt that Celtic are a PROPER Champions League side after their “excellent” European display at Villa Park in January.
Brendan Rodgers’ side drew themselves back on level terms at 2-2 at the home of the Premier League giants’ before conceding twice in the second half during a highly entertaining League Phase encounter in which the former St Mirren and Hibs midfielder came off the bench after being a pre-match injury doubt.
McGinn admits he could already see the headlines as he sat in the dressing room at half-time in the Battle of Britain showdown against his boyhood heroes. He helped turn the game by inadvertently diverting Greg Taylor’s cross into the path of Adam Idah for Celtic’s first goal, something his Hoops-daft family were secretly loving as they watched on from the stands.
“I was gutted not to start the game after working so hard to get back fit,” McGinn admitted after joining up with the Scotland squad for the UEFA Nations League play-off double header against Greece. “I was even more devastated at half-time when the aggregate score of me coming on was 2-0 Celtic. So the story was written, the narrative was there, I could feel it. I got my first assist for Celtic, one of those ones...
“But it was a strange night, obviously even seeing some of the backroom staff who split some time between here and Celtic, it was strange. But thankfully for us it was a massive night, a really important victory in the end.
“I think if Atalanta scored at the end they would have got into the top eight and might still be in the competition. So the margins were fine, but in the end it worked out alright for me. But there was certainly a story written at half-time which was challenging.
“Some of them (my family) were probably celebrating it at the time to be honest, which made the night trickier! In all seriousness, though, it was fine. At half-time, the manager was really good because he knew it was just one of those things. Celtic had scored two good goals, but we'd started the game on fire.
“I wasn't supposed to play longer than what I did. I was supposed to only be 45 minutes max, but when Matty Cash went down, I had a few worries in my head about the hamstring. I thought ‘oh no’, but adrenaline got me through and thankfully in the end we got a good result.
“I actually spoke to Tony Ralston about it this morning. One minute I’m sitting a couple of yards away from him and I said ‘I'm not getting on here’. Three minutes later, no real warm-up, I'm on the pitch and it's 2-2.
“I’ve had some brilliant experiences this year in the Champions League. That was another great night under a lot of pressure and hopefully I can use those experiences to deliver a performance for Scotland.”
Celtic showed they’re a proper Champions League team
Quizzed on whether he felt Celtic proved they're a proper Champions League team that night, McGinn - who has scored two goals in eight Champions League appearances so far - replied: “Yeah, 100%. I think a lot of teams... if you lose two goals early at Villa Park, we've got a brilliant record there this season. I think we've only lost once in the league and not at all in Europe this season.
“They had a choice to crumble, sit in, make it less painful or keep playing the way they did and they did in fairness. I thought they were excellent on the night and obviously a few of my teammates and the staff were very impressed.
“But the manager (Unai Emery) showed them the utmost respect before the game. We watched a lot of their European games in detail and he was impressed, but thankfully we just managed to edge it.”