Celtic’s wait for an away win in Europe is over.
On Thursday night, the Hoops fought back despite falling behind by less than 11 minutes to beat Feyenoord 3-1 against De Kuip. On that famous night in Rotterdam, Hyun-jun Yang, Reo Hatate and Benjamin Nygren were the scorers.
Prior to this, Celtic were winless in their last 16 away European matches for the past four years.
In fact, since reaching the UEFA Cup final in 2003 under Martin O’Neill, they have won only six times on the continent, excluding qualifying, with victories over Spartak Moscow, Anderlecht, Rosenborg, Lazio, Ferencvaros and now Feyenoord over the past 22 seasons.
As for this season, the win moves Celtic into 21st place in the Europa League table, with games against Roma, Bologna and Utrecht still remaining, giving Celtic a huge boost to their hopes of making it to the knockout stages.
So who was the Celtic star who looked like a £100m player during this win at De Kuip?
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Since returning to the club on an interim basis, O’Neill could not have done better.
He won three out of three Premiership matches, defeating Rangers in the League Cup semi-final and scoring a memorable European victory for the Netherlands. The shelling at Herning against Midtjylland was the only stain on his copybook.
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Now, the 73-year-old will join Shaun Maloney in charge against Hibernian at Easter Road on Sunday, but could that be their last game in charge?
That’s because, according to widespread reports, the club are currently in advanced talks with Columbus Crew manager Wilfried Nancy, with some optimistic that the Frenchman will be fit for next Wednesday’s game against Dundee.
Given they face current Premiership leaders Hearts and then Serie A top side Roma, the board will be desperate to get Nancy on board as soon as possible.
Assuming the Frenchman was watching Thursday’s win over Feyenoord, perhaps while enjoying his Thanksgiving meal in Ohio, one player in particular definitely caught his eye.
Celtic’s best player vs Feyenoord
As Brendan Rodgers’ managerial tenure draws to a close, Reo Hatate is no longer guaranteed to be a starter, only making the bench in the Europa League home defeat to Braga and not featuring at all in the disastrous goalless draw with Hibs in September.
Nevertheless, he was appointed to a key role under O’Neill and became the star of the show in Rotterdam.
Hatate brilliantly set up Jan for the equalizer and calmly scored his second goal shortly after, forcing Timon Wellenreuther into a fatal mistake with Daizen Maeda’s trademark shot before rolling the ball into an unguarded net from long range.
Overall, the midfield maestro completed 89% of his passes, scored two shots, created one big chance and recovered the ball nine times, underlining that he is everywhere.
After last year’s 3-3 draw with Rangers at Ibrox, Brendan Rodgers claimed the flag bearer was “doing too much for my liking” and labeled him “sloppy”, claiming it was a sign of his declining form and importance.
However, according to FBref, he is currently playing at the same level as Enzo Fernandes, pointing out that there are statistical and stylistic similarities between players in the same position across Europe.
It’s a sign of Hatate’s recent resurgence, especially considering Fernandes recently signed for Chelsea from Benfica for a fee of around £107m.
Such comparisons are not unfounded, and Hatten, like Fernandes, played in a more advanced midfield position and arguably produced his best performance of the season against Feyenoord.
Hatate – Past 365 days | ||
|---|---|---|
statistics | Hatate | |
non-penalty goal | 0.13 | |
assist | 0.26 | |
The action that creates the shot | 2.31 | |
Pass completed | 83% | |
progressive path | 4.31 | |
progressive carry | 1.16 | |
successful take-up | 0.77 | |
tackle | 1.28 | |
intercept | 0.51 | |
Via FBref | ||
Meanwhile, the Japanese star has proven himself to be a goal threat in Europe as well, scoring in both games against Midtjylland and Feyenoord, and also provided an assist against De Kuip this week.
Given how impressive the flag bearer has been since first arriving at Parkhead almost four years ago, it’s frankly surprising that a Premier League club hasn’t come along to poach him.
Celtic supporters will want this to remain the case and if Nancy eventually arrives, the 28-year-old is likely to be a central and indispensable figure.
As great as the standard bearer: Celtic’s failure showed he can be ‘world class’ under Nancy
On Thursday, Celtic beat Feyenoord 3-1 in De Kuip in the UEFA Europa League, with one player showing the potential of a player to match Reo Hatate’s ‘world class’.
