Celtic's Joe Hart celebrates with Kyogo Furuhashi after the match
Celtic star Kyogo Furuhashi has been declared available for the Hoops’ Champions League opener against Real Madrid.
The lowdown
Celtic have been drawn against Real, RB Leipzig and Shakhtar Donetsk in Group F of Europe’s premier club competition.
They open their campaign with a home game against Los Blancos, who are the reigning champions following their victory over Liverpool in May.
Furuhashi started Saturday’s Old Firm victory over Rangers, but was only able to complete five minutes before he was forced off.
The Japanese forward has been selected for all of Celtic’s league games up to this point, with his only rest coming in the Scottish League Cup against Ross County.
The latest
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Ange Postecoglou said Kyogo had been able to take a full part in training at Lennoxtown.
He must now decide how big a role, if any, the 27-year-old can play against Real.
“He trained this morning and looked ok,” the Australian said (via Celts Are Here). “He’s available.
“I make the decision whether he’ll play or not, but in terms of training and doing everything in training, he was fine.”
The verdict
There were fears before the game about the impact of Furuhashi’s absence.
Postecoglou said the shoulder injury was a ‘blow‘ for his side, particularly as the player has been in ‘brilliant form’ up to this point.
The hat-trick in the 9-0 win over Dundee United at the end of last month had taken him to six goals in five matches, or one every 58 minutes on average.
It remains to be seen how many minutes he can play on Tuesday, but any significant involvement would represent a big – and unexpected – boost for Celtic.
Indeed, Sky Sports reporter Mark Benstead described him as a ‘big doubt‘ for the game as recently as yesterday, and there was a very short turnaround between the two games.
Furuhashi is, in the words of Postecoglou, a ‘quality finisher‘ and an ‘intelligent footballer‘ who has ‘that little bit of magic about him‘.
He’ll surely be key to any hope Celtic have of upsetting the 14-times champions.
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