After the disappointing first match against PSV Sparta had another chance two days later against the Scottish champions Celtic FC. After a good performance – especially in the first half – they managed to beat the Scots 3-2 to secure the second spot in the Maspalomas tournament.
Costa was the only one missing in the defensive line, as his minor injury kept him out of play this time. Jakub Podaný started as a left back, as well as Bořek Dočkal in the centre field and Konaté in the attack.
Sparta started the match the worst way possible – Griffiths tipped the ball past Štech only 30 seconds into the game and Celtic were leading 1-0.
Sparta managed to recover soon and they slowly started to put Celtic under pressure. Finally, in the 24th minute, Marek Matějovský levelled the score with a lovely shot from 20 metres.
Seven minutes later, Krejčí fled Celtic’s defence after a clever pass by Dočkal and gave Zeluska no chance.
In the final minutes of the first half, Konaté hit one of Celtic’s defenders hand in the box and Bořek Dočkal made no mistake from the spot.
The fans in Maspalomas had to wait quite a while for a good chance in the second half. Finally, in the 70th minute, Pavel Kadeřábek hit the crossbar with a lovely shot from a free kick.
In the same minute, Thomson, who came on the pitch only a couple of minutes before, scored Celtic’s second with a nice long-range shot.
Sparta were expecting the opposition’s pressure in the final minutes of the match, but the defence was working well. On the other side, Adam Jánoš had the last chance of the match, but he only hit Ambrose twice after a clever pass by Podaný.
Sparta beat Celtic 2-0 and they finish second in the tournament.
AC Sparta Praha - Celtic FC 3-2 (3-1)
Goals: 24' Matějovský, 31' Krejčí, 45' Dočkal - 1' Griffiths, 70' Thomson.
Line-ups:
Sparta: Štěch - Kadeřábek, Holek (46' Švejdík), Brabec, Podaný - Matějovský (43' Vacek), Mareček, Dočkal (63' Schick) - Přikryl (84' Miskovič), Krejčí (46. Picault) - Konaté (79' Jánoš).
Celtic: Zaluska - Fisher (83' Izaguirre), Denayer (46' Ambrose), O'Connel, Waters, Kayal (46' Bitton), Linsay, Tonev (51' McMullan), Henderson (63' Thomson), McGregor, Griffiths (63' Scepovic).
Sparta: Štěch - Kadeřábek, Holek (46' Švejdík), Brabec, Podaný - Matějovský (43' Vacek), Mareček, Dočkal (63' Schick) - Přikryl (84' Miskovič), Krejčí (46. Picault) - Konaté (79' Jánoš).
Celtic: Zaluska - Fisher (83' Izaguirre), Denayer (46' Ambrose), O'Connel, Waters, Kayal (46' Bitton), Linsay, Tonev (51' McMullan), Henderson (63' Thomson), McGregor, Griffiths (63' Scepovic).
Referees: Hernandez - Perez Martin, Perez Naranjo.
