Real Madrid 5-1 Celtic: Player ratings as Los Blancos secure top spot with dominant win
By Tom Gott
Real Madrid secured top spot in their Champions League group in style as they thumped a plucky Celtic side 5-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Two first-half penalties, coupled with a 12-yard miss from Celtic, set the tone for the game before Real stepped things up after the break and romped to a dominant victory.
Celtic came out the gates hot but their flame was quickly extinguished as Moritz Jenz was penalised for a handball in the penalty area inside five minutes. With Karim Benzema on the bench, the responsibility fell to Luka Modric, who calmly found the side netting to put Real ahead.
A full-stretch Kyogo Furuhashi couldn't get on the end of a dangerous counter-attack soon after as Celtic continued their high-energy approach to proceedings, but Real flexed their quality at the other end of the pitch and Vinicius Junior came close to tapping home a second.
In the aftermath of Vinicius' shot, Rodrygo fired in an effort which deflected off the arm of Matt O'Riley, after which a VAR check led to another penalty.
This time, it was Rodrygo who took the penalty and he fired the ball into the opposite corner to Modric, with Joe Hart diving the wrong way both times as Real doubled their advantage.
Straight from kick-off, Rodrygo found Vinicius alone in the box but the winger could not keep his effort down and inexplicably fired over the bar.
Kyogo and Reo Hatate then had good strikes saved by Thibaut Courtois, before Celtic were awarded a penalty of their own as Ferland Mendy scythed down Liel Abada, but Josip Juranovic's powerful effort was beaten away by Courtois.
Any hope of a Celtic come back was killed off six minutes into the second half as the excellent Marco Asensio fired home from the edge of the area to guarantee top spot for Carlo Ancelotti's side.
It was 4-0 on the hour mark as Federico Valverde's drilled cross was steered into the back of the net by Vinicius, before the Uruguayan bent home a fifth with 20 minutes to go.
To their credit, Celtic didn't lie down and they got the goal their ambition deserved as substitute Jota fired home a glorious free-kick inside the final ten minutes to give the travelling fans something to celebrate on the way home.
Real Madrid vs Celtic player ratings
1. Real Madrid (4-3-3)
GK: Thibaut Courtois - 8/10 - Some nice saves to keep Celtic calm in the first half and got an excellent hand to Juranovic's penalty.
RB: Dani Carvajal - 5/10 - His lack of pace was exposed here as the Celtic forwards continued to get behind him in the first half.
CB: Eder Militao - 6/10 - Some excellent moments and some unconvincing moments. Probably all balances out.
CB: David Alaba - 6/10 - Didn't have a whole lot to do really.
LB: Ferland Mendy - 5/10 - Repeatedly lost his man in the first half and was clumsy as he dragged down Abada for the penalty. Fortunate to get bailed out by Courtois.
DM: Toni Kroos - 7/10 - Classy as ever. Didn't move around the pitch too much but didn't need to, instead spraying passes around comfortably.
CM: Luka Modric - 8/10 - Sublime in midfield as always and topped it all off with the early penalty.
CM: Federico Valverde - 9/10 - A great assist, a glorious goal and another top performance.
RW: Marco Asensio - 9/10 - Created real problems down the right for Celtic but also put in a massive shift at the defensive end as he helped out Carvajal. Took his goal very well.
ST: Rodrygo - 7/10 - Some excellent movement and dribbling which kept the pressure on Celtic's back line. Nice and composed from the penalty spot.
LW: Vinicius Junior - 6/10 - Looked a bit like the Vinicius of old in the first half but managed to get his goal in the end.
SUB: Karim Benzema (64' for Vinicius) - 6/10 - Some good movement in his cameo.
SUB: Lucas Vazquez (64' for Carvajal) - 6/10 - A reliable threat down the right.
SUB: Dani Ceballos (66' for Modric) - 6/10 - Had a job to do off the bench and did it well.
SUB: Nacho Fernandez (66' for Alaba) - 6/10 - Barely even involved, such was Real's dominance in the second half.
SUB: Jesus Vallejo (73' for Militao) - 6/10 - A composed showing.
Manager: Carlo Ancelotti - 6/10 - Real were a little more open at the back than Ancelotti would have liked but you can't argue with such an emphatic victory.
2. Celtic (4-2-3-1)
GK: Joe Hart - 4/10 - A poor decision for the first penalty in what was a tough evening for the stopper.
RB: Josip Juranovic - 3/10 - Compounded Celtic's misery with a poor penalty.
CB: Carl Starfelt - 3/10 - Didn't look fully fit on his return from injury as he chased Real's forwards around to no avail.
CB: Moritz Jenz - 2/10 - Set the tone by giving away a penalty five minutes in. Looked terrified whenever asked to do anything.
LB: Greg Taylor - 2/10 - Chasing shadows as Asensio breezed past him with ease.
DM: Aaron Mooy - 5/10 - Some nice passing to keep Celtic ticking and pushing forward but began to tire after the interval.
DM: Matt O'Riley - 5/10 - On the wrong end of some poor refereeing decisions which hampered an otherwise solid display.
RM: Liel Abada - 6/10 - Got in behind Mendy a fair few times and did well to draw a penalty from the Frenchman.
AM: Reo Hatate - 6/10 - Linked midfield and attack very impressively. A good showing on a huge stage.
LM: Daizen Maeda - 6/10 - Played some excellent balls into Kyogo and can consider himself unfortunate not to walk away with at least one assist.
ST: Kyogo Furuhashi - 5/10 - Got in some nice positions but just couldn't find his finishing touch.
SUB: Georgios Giakoumakis (63' for Kyogo) - 5/10 - A threat on the rare occasions he got involved.
SUB: David Turnbull (63' for Mooy) - 5/10 - Couldn't keep up with Real's midfield but there's no shame in that.
SUB: Jota (63' for Maeda) - 6/10 - An obvious threat on the ball but didn't get many chances to strut his stuff. An excellent free-kick.
SUB: Sead Haksabanovic (63' for Abada) - 5/10 - Felt like he didn't get enough time to get involved. Came on when the game was already done.
SUB: Oliver Abildgaard (82' for Hatate) - N/A
Manager: Ange Postecoglou - 5/10 - Can't really fault much from the boss, whose ambitious approach should have yielded a goal or two early on. Probably should've slowed things down when they started to get ugly. Perhaps a little naïve but why not try and make something special happen?