Livescore
08:04 PM BST
3 minutes: Celtic 0 Atletico 0
Griezmann wriggles through a couple of challenges 30 yards out, and reverses a pass to the right. World Cup winning right-back Molina runs onto it, but his first-time shot was wild and flies high and wide.
08:03 PM BST
2 minutes: Celtic 0 Atletico 0
Celtic get the ball down in their own half, and straight away Atletico are in their shape in a 5-3-2. The pass forward is too strong and runs through for a goal kick. Hatate then had the chance to play forward from an attacking midfield position, but his pass hit his striker Kyogo in the back.
08:01 PM BST
KICK OFF!
Atletico Madrid get the game start, accompanied by the Celtic Park roar.
07:56 PM BST
The players are in the tunnel
After a rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone, both teams are ready to come out. Martin O’Neill in the TV studio says “nights like this are what you live for”. There are large Palestine flags across the ground, not just in the Green Brigade section.
07:52 PM BST
A number of Palestine flags around Celtic Park
07:47 PM BST
Rodgers on turning promising performances into results
I think we’ve seen enough good spells in the games, we started well against Feyenoord before going down to nine men.
In the Lazio game, it looked like we were going to win the game through being intense in our football and being very well organised, playing with our passion. What happened at the end is what happens at this level.
07:40 PM BST
Atletico Madrid fans reminding Celtic fans of the ‘Shame Game’
07:22 PM BST
It looks like the Green Brigade have their Palestine flag display in place
It looks like some of them are in the ground early to make sure the plastic sheets stay in place. The scale of their pre-match display has been limited compared to past European nights.
07:16 PM BST
Will Alvaro Morata take his chances tonight?
The former Chelsea striker has a reputation for missing some sitters, but his movement is excellent and he continues to be rated in his home country.
07:01 PM BST
Atletico Madrid team news: Molina and Savic return in defence
Starting XI: Oblak, Savic, Witsel, Hermoso, Molina, De Paul, Koke, Saul, Galan, Morata, Griezmann
Subs: Grbic, Azpilicueta, Soyuncu, Correa, Llorente, Barrios, Riquelme, Gomis
06:52 PM BST
Team news: Celtic unchanged from the win at Hearts
Starting XI: Hart, Alistair Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Scales, Taylor, O’Riley, McGregor, Hatate, Maeda, Furuhashi, Palma
Subs: Lagerbielke, Phillips, Yang, Turnbull, Oh, Iwata, Bernardo, Bain, Morrison, Forrest, Ralston, Michael Johnston
06:42 PM BST
Joe Hart, his two sets of gloves and the rest of the Celtic team have arrived
06:39 PM BST
Simeone on a historic fixture
Celtic in their games against Lazio and Feyenoord, in the first 60-70 minutes they played at a really high tempo. They play very fast. They look to hit you on the transitions. They have a strong system that they stick to. They’ll press you up in your own half.
It’s a really historic stadium. You can tell that. The history of 1974 and as well 1967, which my father told me about against Racing Club. So it’s a huge club one of the most historic in the world.
06:31 PM BST
For all the talk of Celtic Park’s atmosphere…
Celtic are actually without a win in 11 home Champions League group games, although that run does include defeats against Real Madrid, PSG and Bayern Munich. The loss against Lazio this season, courtesy of Pedro’s 95th minute goal, when Celtic shaded the contest over the 90 minutes was a real gutter.
06:23 PM BST
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Fancy a flutter? Special offers from bookmakers on tonight’s game.
06:19 PM BST
Brendan Rodgers on the challenge facing his team
We know the task, Atletico are a fantastic team, one of the best in the world. They are very comfortable at this level.
We can’t do what we do in normal games. This is a team and manager (Diego Simeone) that is too experienced for that.
One of the biggest things at this level is concentration. You drop your guard for a second and you get punished.
For us, it’s about having that collective mentality. There has to be a green and white block moving up and down the pitch. Everyone together.
If we can do that and keep our concentration, we have a great chance against any team, especially here at home.
06:15 PM BST
Atletico Madrid will be wearing a commemorative kit tonight
The shirt will be a nod to the strip worn by Atletico Madrid when they played at Celtic Park in the 1974 European Cup semi-final. In a first leg dubbed the ‘Shame Game’ in Scotland, Atletico had three players sent off as they took chunks out of a talented Celtic side who were fancied to win the tournament. Celtic winger Jimmy Johnstone came in from some particularly rough treatment, but despite finishing with eight players the Spanish side escaped with a goalless draw before winning in Madrid.
A repeat performance tonight seems unlikely, but you never know with Simeone and Var about.
06:03 PM BST
The Green Brigade’s response to club policy
Despite disingenuous claims, we have absolutely no doubt that these sanctions are motivated by a desire to quash political expression within the Celtic support, specifically in relation to Palestine at this time.
In spite of this, and any further obstruction, we once again encourage fans to courageously fly the flag for Palestine. For those unable to obtain a flag, the Green Brigade will distribute thousands of flags outside the stadium.
While it would be easier to distribute flags inside, we are prohibited from bringing the flags into the stadium. We respect the right of all fans who wish not to participate in such an action, however equally we ask that the same respect and freedom is afforded to all fans who do.
06:00 PM BST
Celtic in dispute with fan group over Palestine flag displays
Celtic have urged their supporters not to bring flags and banners relating to the conflict between Israel and Palestine to tonight’s Champions League match against Atletico Madrid.
The club issued the plea on the day of the meeting with the Spaniards after the Green Brigade fans’ group encouraged supporters to “courageously fly the flag for Palestine” amid a conflict that has claimed thousands of lives.
In a statement, the club said: “The club recognises that our supporters hold personal views to which everyone is entitled. As a club open to all, we all belong at Celtic Park.
“Celtic Park is where we come to support our football club. Recognising this, respecting the gravity of the tragedy unfolding and its impact on communities in Scotland and across the world, and in line with other clubs, leagues and associations, we ask that banners, flags and symbols relating to the conflict and those countries involved in it are not displayed at Celtic Park at this time.”
Celtic fan group the Green Brigade have been involved in a dispute with the club over the flying of Palestine flags, something for which Celtic were sanctioned by Uefa in 2016. The ultras believe that by preventing them from distributing flags inside the stadium, Celtic are clamping down on free expression and gestures of solidarity. The club say the Green Brigade can distribute flags outside Celtic Park, and the fan group have encourages fans to pick up flags in their thousands. Celtic have recently suspended the Green Brigade’s ticket allocation for away games, which has contributed to a souring of relations. The club have been fined by Uefa for the group’s pre-match pyrotechnics and there are worries that more serious punishments could follow.
On the pitch, Celtic’s hopes of Champions League progression were always going to rest on their home results, and after losing to Lazio at Parkhead last time out they badly need some sort of result against Atletico Madrid tonight.
Defeat would not bring mathematical confirmation of Celtic’s elimination, but would leave them as rank outsiders with trips to Rome and Madrid to follow.
A 1-0 win over Rangers in the first Old Firm game of the season proved the springboard for a strong run of domestic form, during which Brendan Rodgers’ team have opened up a seven-point lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership. Celtic have scored 15 goals in their last five league games, and were able to substitute Reo Hatate, Callum McGregor and Daizen Maeda early against Hearts on Sunday with the Atletico game in mind.
Atletico are not quite the force they once were under Diego Simeone but have made a strong start to the season. They are three points off the top of La Liga with a game in hand, and know that one or both of city rivals Real or Barcelona will drop points in this Saturday’s Clasico. Only Barcelona have a better expected goal difference than Atletico, so their performances suggest they should be considered one of the strongest teams in Spain. It is a 5-3-2 these days rather than the 4-4-2 of old, with Alvaro Morata and Antoine Griezmann partners up front. Koke and Saul Niguez continue to feature in midfield, while Simeone has been using Belgian midfielder Axel Witsel in the middle of a back three.
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