OPINION
Celtic fans have found a new hero.
In the cauldron of his first-ever Old Firm game, summer signing Christopher Jullien put in a blinding performance.
With doubts over Celtic’s defence going into the game, 26-year-old Jullien was part of a brilliant backline that kept first Jermain Defoe and then Alfredo Morelos out in front of a noisy home crowd at Ibrox.
The attack momentum graph from SofaScore shows why Celtic came out on top. They dominated the first half before successfully repelling Rangers in the first 20 minutes of the second half when they threatened a comeback.
The Scottish Sun awarded Jullien a 9/10 rating and said, “Intense spotlight on the Frenchman, Celtic’s second-costliest signing, and he was magnificent. Imperious in the air, especially in closing stages with Celtic under pressure. Not one mistake.”
According to stats site WyScout, Celtic’s £7m-man won all four of his aerial duels at Ibrox and five of his six defensive duels. He completed his one sliding tackle, and made five interceptions, four clearances and 11 recoveries.
It was a dream Old Firm debut.
Head, heart and fight from Jullien
It’s not just his stats that were impressive, though, but his head too.
Jullien was being goaded by Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos (who else?), who stamped on his foot in the second half of the game.
Jullien refused to be wound up and did his talking on the pitch, and made it clear in quotes in the Scottish Sun after the game how strong he is.
“It’s what I said to him after he stamped on my foot, ‘The more you come at me, the more the zero stays on the scoreboard.’
“If I’m still on the field, if I can still stand up, then I’ll say what I say. So I told him he could come for me and we are going to have a fight, for sure. I will be ready.”
This is exactly what Celtic need and he’s a player who Steven Gerrard should use to educate his players after they suffered yet another Old Firm red card with Jordan Jones getting sent off late on for a reckless tackle.
As Jullien says, you’re no good for your team off the pitch.