LIEL ABADA knows just how tight the margins can be when competing at the very highest level. And if the Celtic winger had been in any doubt, his side’s Champions League campaign thus far as all but erased it.
Ange Postecoglou’s team have one point from their opening two group stage fixtures this term but there will be a frustration that they do not have more points on the board. The Premiership champions were unable to capitalise on an impressive first-half showing at home to Real Madrid in their European curtain-raiser before the Spaniards’ quality shone through in the second, while only a devastating counter-attack from Mykhaylo Mudryk denied the Scots the three points away to Shakhtar Donetsk.
As Celtic prepare for a double-header with RB Leipzig, Abada retains a steely determination to prove himself on the biggest stage European football has to offer. The inside forward boasts a remarkable goal scoring record – the wide player scores roughly one in every three games – but is still to score his first Champions League goal.
He had a wonderful opportunity to open the scoring against Real on matchday one but dragged his effort wide after being sent scarpering through on goal in the first half at Parkhead. However, the Israel internationalist will not be dwelling on past mistakes when Celtic take on Leipzig in Germany on Wednesday night.
He explained: "We need to keep playing our football but in the last two games in the Champions League we missed a lot of opportunities, so we need to focus 100 per cent because in the Champions League if you don't score it costs you at this level because the other team will score.
“We need to be focused to score goals.
“It was a good chance but I don't think about it too much because it was against Real Madrid and sometimes in football you score and sometimes you miss. Hopefully, next time I will score.”
Abada’s remarkable scoring record would appear anachronistic in many other periods but in this era where the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Mo Salah and Neymar provide a barrel-load of goals year upon year, wide players with envious goal tallies are becoming more and more commonplace.
The attacker – who celebrates his 21st birthday tomorrow – has put in the hard yards on the training ground to become a well-rounded threat in the final third, and says he has been inspired by some of the sport’s biggest stars when developing his own game.
“All my career I have played winger but I really work on it at training and also after training,” he said.
“I stay on the pitch and I work on finishing and crosses.
“I really want to help the team win the points from every game and hopefully to keep scoring for Celtic and help my friends in the team.
“I look at those players and teach myself from them because they are the best players in the world.
“It's very good to look at them to hopefully help me score more goals and provide more assists to do my best for Celtic.”
Like so many of Postecoglou’s signings, Abada wasted little time in adapting to his new surroundings when he first arrived in Glasgow in the summer of 2021, having agreed a transfer from Maccabi Petah Tikva.
His compatriot Nir Bitton – who left Celtic during the close season, bringing a nine-year stint at the club to a close – was an important figure in those early months as Abada left his homeland and was settling into life in Scotland, as the winger explained.
“I came from Israel and it's very difficult to be alone when you are so young, but from the first time I came to Celtic all the coaches and players gave me the confidence I need,” he said.
“Nir also helped me a lot at the start, he looked after me always. I am really happy to be here and I hope to keep it like that.
“Nir helped me because when I first came to Celtic I didn't speak English and it was very difficult with the language and he helped me with everything that I needed and always looked after me.
“He made sure I felt good and that I had everything I needed and this really helped me.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here