Real Madrid 5-1 Celtic: Champions League holders seal top spot in style

Real Madrid secured top spot in Champions League Group F with an easy 5-1 win over Celtic.

Madrid held a point lead over RB Leipzig going into the final round of fixtures and only needed to match the Bundesliga side's result against Shakhtar Donetsk to be sure of winning the group.

Leipzig won 4-0 against Shakhtar but Celtic never looked likely to do the German side any favors, conceding two penalties in 21 minutes as Luka Modric and Rodrygo converted from 12 meters.

Josip Juranovic missed a first-half kick at the other end before Marco Asensio, Vinicius Junior and Federico Valverde scored a deservedly emphatic appearance for Carlo Ancelotti's men, although Jota had the last laugh with a nice free kick for the visitors.

Modric's cool penalty put Madrid ahead in the sixth minute after Moritz Jenz's handball and, after seeing Vinicius Junior denied by a fine save from Joe Hart, the hosts doubled their lead with a second kick, Rodrygo this time converting with Matt O'Riley deemed to have managed after a VAR review.

Celtic posed a threat in their own right and had a chance to halve the deficit when Ferland Mendy brought down Liel Abada, although Thibaut Courtois denied Juranovic, as he did Lionel Messi in his last penalty in the Champions League in February.

Any faint hope of a Celtic fight back was put to bed six minutes into the second half when Asensio fired into the bottom left corner.

Vinicius caused more misery for Celtic after being trapped by Valverde, who then drove home an elegant fifth from the edge of the box.

Jota's consolation was equally pleasing to the eye as he exerted an effort past Courtois and into the top left corner.

What does this mean? Tougher tests await Los Blancos

Despite finishing first in the group, Madrid could still face a tricky draw in the Round of 16.

Liverpool, Inter and Milan are all potential first-round knockout opponents, while Paris Saint-Germain could still finish second in their group. Although given their form, Madrid will imagine getting a result against any opposition.

Don Carlo equals Sir Alex

The win marked Ancelotti's 102nd Champions League win (excluding Milan's award-winning win over Inter in 2005), tying Manchester United great Alex Ferguson for most wins in the history of the competition by a coach.

Old Firm competes with anything but solid

Celtic's two-point tally is their lowest in the history of the competition.

The Hoops and their Old Firm rivals Rangers, who failed to score a single point leaving the group stage, have conceded 37 goals between them in the competition proper this season. This is the record for most clubs from one city in a Champions League campaign.

Key facts about Opta

Madrid have won all of their home group stage matches in a Champions League season for the first time since 2015-16, a season in which they went on to win the competition. Celtic have lost their last six Champions League games against opponents Spain, conceding 24 goals while scoring just two in return. Madrid finished top of their Champions League group for three consecutive seasons (2020-21 to 2022-23) for the first time since between 2013-14 and 2015-16. Celtic conceded two goals from the penalty spot after 20 minutes and 47 seconds against Real Madrid, the first a team had ever given two penalties in a Champions League game. At the age of 37 years and 54 days, Modric became the oldest Champions League goalscorer since Francesco Totti in November 2014 for Roma against CSKA Moscow (38y 59d).

What's next?

Madrid are out of action until Monday when they visit Rayo Vallecano in La Liga. Celtic host Dundee United in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday.