Celtic’s Hart baffled by Real Madrid penalty award

Celtic goalkeeper Joe Hart was left frustrated after Real Madrid were awarded two penalties for handball inside the opening 21 minutes of their Champions League clash on Wednesday.

The reigning European champions converted both, through Luka Modric and Rodrygo, on their way to a resounding 5-1 win that guaranteed them top spot in Group F and left winless Celtic bottom.

Moritz Jenz was penalised for the first after handling a Federico Valverde shot, before a Rodrygo shot struck the arm of Matt O’Riley from close range.

Celtic earned a spot kick of their own before half-time, but Josip Juranovic’s effort was saved by Thibaut Courtois.

“I don’t think either of them intentionally used their hand. That goes without saying,” Hart told BT Sport.

“It happened so quick. Matt [O’Reilly] said his hands were inside his body and it hit him. What do they want him to do, chop his arms off?

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“And Mo (Jenz) just slightly misjudged one and it hits his hand. I’m not going to sit here and moan about penalties, we’ve been beaten 5-1 by a very good team.

“But that does set the tone. But we got a penalty, and we missed it.”

Marco Asensio, Vinicius Junior and Valverde were on target for Real in the second half before Jota netted a late consolation as Celtic’s European campaign ended with a whimper.

The Scottish champions picked up two points from six games but were repeatedly punished for their profligacy in front of goal.

Celtic’s attacking approach under manager Ange Postecoglou failed to earn results on the European stage, and Hart was asked if his side are better for the experience of competing in the group stage.

“There’s only one way to find out and that’s by getting back here again,” he said.

“Trust me, we’re going to spend every single day now domestically working hard on all three fronts, trying to put ourselves in a position where we can answer that question.”