I watched brave Celtic against Bologna - 5 conclusion including restored star, Hearts issues and new signing

Martin O’Neill’s men have eight points going into next week’s final league-phase game week and will reach the play-off round with a win over Utrecht at Celtic Park.

We pick out some talking points after the match at Stadio Renato Dall’Ara.

Celtic’s spirit is back

You don’t have to be a detective to conclude that Celtic would not have won this match under previous manager Wilfried Nancy. For starters, they would have been set up in such an open formation that a team as talented and streetwise as Bologna would have taken full advantage.

Nancy’s successor O’Neill has swiftly organised Celtic into a coherent unit that can defend and attack. Square pegs are not in round holes. Players are asked to keep things far simpler.

And what that has given O’Neill is quick buy-in. Not that he probably needed it given he won seven games out of eight in his first caretaker stint. Yet this Celtic team is operating with far more spirit. They are fighting for each other and their manager. That did not seem the case under Nancy.

Celtic are back enjoying themselves again. There remain deficiencies but good old fashioned grunt work can mask some of them. The way Celtic, down to ten men, tackled and blocked spoke of a unit that is pulling in the right direction. They are fighting, scrapping to keep this season alive.

Trusty and Scales rewind to October 2024

One of Celtic’s best European performances of recent times also came in Italy, back in October 2024, when a catenaccio masterclass earned them a goalless Champions League draw away at Atalanta.

In that game, they kept a clean sheet but also had 11 men on the pitch. Bologna were always likely to score once they gained numerical superiority after Reo Hatate was sent off after 34 minutes.

Just like in Bergamo, when key centre-half Cameron Carter-Vickers was injured, Celtic lined up in Bologna with Auston Trusty and Liam Scales at the heart of defence. And just like that night, the duo shone. Scales feasts upon the meat-and-potatoes side of the job and Trusty had one of those games where he threw his body at everything that came his way. It was a reminder why Celtic paid nearly £6 million for him.

Recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon, there’s a high chance Carter-Vickers won’t play again this season. The Trusty-Scales partnership is set to remain for the foreseeable future. This performance should give Celtic fans heart that can give the rest of the team a solid platform to build upon.

Now on to Tynecastle ...

Celtic touched down in Glasgow around 1am on Friday. There will have been some heavy legs trudging down the plane stairs given the amount of work the players put in.

Recovery will be key for the squad because Celtic have a huge Premiership match to take care of on Sunday. Six points adrift of leaders Hearts, they head to Tynecastle knowing that defeat would be highly damaging to their title defence.

O’Neill will be able to call upon right-back Julian Araujo, who was ineligible against Bologna. New striker Tomas Cvancara (more on him later) could be given his debut. But key men such as Kieran Tierney, Callum McGregor and Daizen Maeda played every minute in Italy and will need to go to the well again.

Hearts have not lost in 90 minutes at Tynecastle all season. Another enormous effort will be required from these Celtic players.

What to do with Cvancara

Celtic finally got their new No 9 on Thursday lunchtime when 25-year-old Czech internationalist Cvancara signed on loan from German side Borussia Monchengladbach. He will go straight into the squad for Sunday’s match in Gorgie.

What O’Neill must decide is whether to pitch Cvancara in from the very beginning. Maeda has such stamina that he can probably go again from the start, but he is more effective out wide. Neither winger Sebastian Tounekti or Yang Hyun-jun played the full 90 minutes, so they should be fresher than the men behind him.

Asking Cvancara to make an immediate impact in such a high-stakes game would be a big ask. He spent the first half of the season on loan in Turkey with Antalyaspor and has only completed more than a half of football twice since mid-September. He may not have the fitness to go from the very beginning.

However, Celtic need a proper striker. Johnny Kenny scored last weekend, but the young Irishman hasn’t shown enough so far this season that he can be the hitman this team can rely on in such a match. O’Neill warned before Cvancara signed that the Czech would not cure all ills - a cameo from the bench feels more likely even if options are thin on the ground.

A word for the goalie

Kasper Schmeichel has taken plenty of stick this season, so it is only fair that credit is given where it is due.

The veteran Dane was clearly discombobulated by Nancy’s approach to defending. He did not appear comfortable with a back three in front of him, nor did he know where to pass the ball. Schmeichel is old enough to shoulder responsibility for some of his displays - but he now looks back to something near his best.

Comfortable on the ball in Bologna, he also made some very good saves against the Italians. His positioning and handling were sound and he built on the performance last time out for him against Falkirk.

He clearly has a strong relationship with O’Neill, who has spoken on more than one occasion on how highly he regards Schmeichel. The boss knows how crucial a good keeper can be Just look at title rivals Hearts (Alexander Schwolow, Craig Gordon) and Rangers (Jack Butland).