There have been lots of fantastic players that have, in the words of this Willie Maley Song, passed through Parkhead’s gates to perform to the Hoops, also there are many others who’ve confronted Celtic in Paradise.
All of these leave Celtic Park understanding they were fortunate enough to play in among the most significant and most famous sporting arenas in the world. And highlighted only some of these big names from soccer background, the Celtic site is turning its focus to more recent times, highlighting a few of the celebrities who’ve played Paradise from the 21st century.
Let’s talk about Lionel Messi today.
It had been that the Hoops who took the lead throughout Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink after 16 minutes, but just two minutes later, Messi, then only 20-years-old, equalised to the side, enjoying a one-two with Ronaldinho prior to shooting the ball to the roof of the internet. Thierry Henry scored for Barca about 52 minutes and after that, with only 11 minutes of the game remaining, Messi scored his second of the night to give his side a 3-2 success at Celtic Park.
The game came only 24 hours after Celtic had celebrated the 125th anniversary of the heritage, and a stunning scene screen greeted both sides since they emerged in the tube. It was one of the most amazing European nights witnessed at Paradise. The scoreline remained the same before the 83rd minute despite having Barca strain before Tony Watt latched on to a long clearance from Fraser Forster and coolly slotted the ball outside Victor Valdes to place Celtic 2-0 ahead. And though Messi decreased the deficit in the last moment, the Hoops held to get a historical success.
Sadly not! He played Paradise back on Wednesday, November 23, 2016, again at the group stages of the UEFA Champions League, but this time there were no Celtic parties on the evening. Messi, currently wearing the captain’s armband to the side, opened the scoring on 24 minutes, shooting home from six metres out beyond Craig Gordon from the Celtic aim. Only for good measure because year’s contest, Messi also struck a hat-trick from the corresponding match in the Camp Nou in a 7-0 win for Barca.
He is not bad! … Alright, so he’s phenomenal, among the most important, if not the best player ever to have played the gorgeous game. In 718 competitive looks for Barcelona across all contests, he’s scored 627 goals… yes, that is correct, SIX HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVEN GOALS! And he is also chipped in with 261 assists. And on a personal level, he has won the Ballon D’Or along with also the European Golden Shoe awards six times. He has also scored 70 goals in 138 looks for Argentina.
Messi on playing at the Celtic home ground, “The matches against Celtic were unique and I wish to recall them. Celtic Park is a challenging place to visit. It is never easy to get a consequence. We all know we’d find a difficult game if we brought them from the Champions League, but everyone involved in these Barcelona v Celtic matches wants to play and go again. It’s the very best air in Europe and most of us wish to experience that”
