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Football

11th Oct 2022

Celtic pay stunning, utterly silent tribute to Creeslough explosion victims

Patrick McCarry

A silence that reverberated around the home of the Scottish champions.

Celtic Football Club were joined in sombre silence by RB Leipzig, at Parkhead this evening, as the club and its’ supporters paid their respects to the victims of the tragic and deadly explosion at Creeslough, Donegal, last Friday.

10 people – four men, three women and three young people – will be laid to rest in the days ahead following the horrific incident in the Donegal town.

Ahead of their Champions League game against RB Leipzig, Celtic confirmed that the club would be paying their respects to the victims of that tragic explosion. The Scottish champions stated:

‘A period of silence will be held prior to kick-off, and the players will wear black armbands during the game, in memory of the 10 people who tragically lost their lives in Creeslough, County Donegal on Friday.’

Sure enough, at a packed out Parkhead, ahead of a must-win Champions League clash for the Scots, the home fans belted out a rousing rendition of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’. The roof was then lifted off the stadium when the Champions League theme was played out.

Following that, as both sides lined out before kick-off, here was an immaculately observed moment’s silence.

Celtic had one point from their opening three games of Group F and went into the tie knowing they would most likely need to beat the German side if they were to have any chance of reaching the knock-out stages of the Champions League.

After losing at home to Real Madrid in their opening game of the group, Angelos Postecoglou’s side then drew with Shakhtar Donetsk before losing the away date against Leipzig.

“It’s human nature, particularly with the group we have,” Postecoglou observed, when asked about his players being under pressure against experienced European outfits. “They’re still experiencing something new. It’s by trying to show them that they have protection if things go wrong. I’ll take the responsibility for it. Don’t fear.”

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