It was a night of disappointment for Celtic at the Mestalla as Valencia defeated the Hoops in the second leg of the round of 32 Europa League matchup. Brendan Rodgers’ side went into the match with a 2-0 deficit from the first leg played at the Celtic Park.
A goal from Kevin Gameiro was enough for the Bats to seal the match despite an improved performance from the Hoops compared to their first leg display. However, right back Jeremy Toljan getting a red card did not help their cause as the Scottish Premiership champions were knocked out of Europe, enduring a 3-0 loss on aggregate.
Here is how the Celtic players were rated from their disappointing defeat against Valencia.
Scott Bain: 7
Made some excellent saves throughout the match and restricted the defeat to a 1-0 scoreline. Without his efforts, it could have easily been 2-0 or even 3-0 in favour of Valencia. Could not do much to stop Gameiro from getting the winning goal though.
Jeremy Toljan: 4
Looked completely out of sorts against the likes of Lato and Goncalo Guedes. Committed two clear fouls to pick up his red card and left the field just after the half-hour mark.
Kristofer Ajer: 6
Made some crunching tackles to stop the opposition attackers but could not do much to stop Gameiro from scoring the winner.
Dedryck Boyata: 6
A solid display from the Belgian saw him get the better of Guedes and Ferran Torres on a number of occasions. However, it did not turn out to be his night after all.
Jojo Simunovic: 6
Looked a bit fragile in the first half but got back in his groove in the second. Could have done better to stop Gameiro though.
Jonny Hayes: 5
Nothing worth mentioning from the left back as he kept getting beaten by the opposition attackers throughout the match. Picked a yellow card for pulling down Torres.
Ryan Christie: 6
Looked good on occasions but could not go forward with the ball. Made some good interceptions throughout the match.
Callum McGregor: 6
Tried to keep the pressure on the opposition in the midfield but was not able to contain them completely. Held the ball well on occasions.
Scott Brown: 6
A calm and composed performance from the captain. Gave away the ball as he looked a little sloppy in the second half though.
James Forrest: 5
Tried to get the ball forward but failed to breach the Valencia backline. Was substituted in the second half.
Oliver Burke: 5
Did not look confident enough to take his shots as he was given the nod ahead of Edouard to lead the line. Needs to work on his physicality as he got bogged down by the Valencia defenders very easily.
Substitutes
Odsonne Edouard: 5
Could not do much to get his side out of trouble. Looked ineffective in his short stint on the pitch.
Michael Johnston: NA
Played too little to warrant a rating.
