‘Villa Park bedlam sums up Celtic’s gripping European campaign’

Celtic’s enthralling defeat at Aston Villa was a near-perfect illustration of the club’s gripping, and ultimately successful, Champions League campaign.

In less than two weeks, a tantalizing two-legged play-off will take place against Real Madrid or Bayern Munich.

Villa scored twice in the opening five minutes in Birmingham, despite missing numerous other chances, like in the Borussia Dortmund horror show.

In a raucous stadium playing a top team, Celtic players looked shocked and cowed.

However, Celtic dug deep as those memories of the Westfalenstadion on matchday two, which had been banished by recent improvements at Europe’s top table, came rushing back.

At Atlanta’s digging out a point and coming from behind them as they steadied showed some of the character and combat.

Then Adam Idah’s double to level ended his goal drought against RB Leipzig and Slovan Bratislava, adding to the swashbuckling action from those teams.

Due to Villa’s apparent overreward in the second half, Celtic were immediately put back in the game, which remained gripping until Morgan Rogers scored a hat-trick to put Celtic up 4-2 in stoppage time.

The Celtic players and fans, who had already experienced another epic night, left Villa Park with the knowledge that the story is still ongoing despite disappointment.

With the draw on Friday, they will be able to do it all over again in the play-off round against a giant of Europe.

The defeat was a reminder of the unforgiveable quality of playing the best in the Champions League, despite Celtic’s bravery and composure.

Villa scored four, missed a penalty, hit a post, had one cleared off the line, racking up a hefty expected goals rating of 3.79.

They were caught trying to get Villa’s second goal from the back.

And Villa’s easy breakaway on the counter punished Liam Scales ruthlessly for pushing too high up the pitch for the third as he was punished.

Jacob Ramsey hit a post after Auston Trusty erratically slid in and gave away a penalty in the first half from the American.

Youngster Dane Murray, who has just returned from Queen’s Park, was robbed for the fourth time in stoppage time inside his own box.

There were many more instances in which Celtic got into trouble.

Without their best centre-back, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Villa always had to play defensively, and Daizen Maeda’s defensive contribution was a letdown as they found success down the flanks in the first half.

The club is in great shape for the club as he approaches the end of the transfer window with left-back Alex Valle joining him out of the door and Kyogo Furuhashi leaving for Rennes.

They must ensure they are as strong as possible from the front as Real or Bayern come to town.

Idah gave a timely reminder of his abilities to some of the more angst-ridden fans of the club the week they lost their talismanic striker Kyogo.

That defeat might have had the biggest impact possible.

The Irishman’s two goals, the first of which Villa conceded on their own patch in the Champions League, not only brought his team back from a pitiful position but also demonstrated his finishing prowess to many who had forgotten he had them.

The Irishman’s last goal came in a 5-0 home win over Ross County at the end of November, just before Wednesday.

‘ BVP ‘ – before Villa Park – might become the reference point in Idah’s Celtic career, if he can kick on from this and fill Kyogo’s substantial shoes.

Rodgers hopes something will come out of Idah’s instinctive finishings, especially in the first goal, where he brilliantly reacted to get his leg in a difficult position to lash home.

His running prowess were also apparent in the back, particularly when he once sprinted in behind and sprinted away in the second half.

Rodgers later stated that the campaign will be “big for his confidence,” and that it has helped Celtic’s reputation on the biggest stage of club football.

Their progress was epitomised by their first-half fightback in Birmingham.