VAR and the match officials have dominated most of the coverage of Celtic’s Saturday match against Hearts.
The controversy surrounding the Tynecastle video officiating appears to be going strong this week, as Celtic is currently in the process of appealing the red card awarded to Hyunjun Yang.
And all the while, a lot of the game’s analysis has been overlooked. similar to the extent to which Celtics missed Callum McGregor.
Brendan Rodgers has ruled out the Celtic captain for at least two games, but his absence from the starting lineup on Sunday at Tynecastle was conspicuous.
Paulo Bernardo, his replacement, gave an equally impressive performance. To be fair to the Portuguese, he was substituted at the half to make room for Kyogo Furuhashi, but Pat Bonner remains confident in the 22-year-old and has expressed doubts about the real value he brings to the team.
There’s no denying that they miss Callum McGregor, according to Bonner [BBC Radio Scotland]. There isn’t anyone to take Callum McGregor’s place.
“Their midfield is lacking. They have lost McGregor and Aaron Mooy, and David Turnbull is no longer with them. And to be honest, they haven’t become much stronger there.
“We have Bernardo here. How can I respond to Bernardo, though? In that regard, what does he bring to the team?
The significance of Callum McGregor to Celtic
After being down to ten men earlier in the season, Celtic managed to win one game. After Joe Hart was sent off in September’s 3-0 victory against Livingston, Aaron Rodgers’ team was forced to play with one less player for more than an hour.
Even though Daizen Maeda was the star of the show that game, McGregor was the center of Celtic’s midfield.
The team did, however, notice the Celtic captain’s absence, and supporters will be hoping that McGregor returns to the green and white hoops as soon as possible.
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