Celtic were tonight beaten by Spanish club Atletico Madrid in their opening Europa League outing. The Hoops lost 2-0 at the Vicente Calderon Stadium after last season's top scorer in the competition, Radamel Falcao, scored his first goal for his new club early before loanee Diego added a second just over 20 minutes from time.
Former Porto star Falcao powered home a header in the third minute from Diego's cross which got the home side off to an ominous start.
But Celtic held their own following the early opener and they could have been back on level terms almost immediately when Gary Hooper failed to control in the area after exchanging passes with Beram Kayal.
The Hoops looked dangerous on the counter attack but were not in attack enough to really threaten Thibaut Courtois' goal with the Chelsea loan signing only having to deal with Ki Sung-yueng's 30-yard drive early in the second half.
Atletico doubled their lead in the 68th minute when Arda Turan cut back for Diego who finished confidently past Fraser Forster to give the home side maximum points in their first Group I fixture.
Atletico Madrid (ESP): 2 (Radamel Falcao 3', Diego 68') Celtic (SCO): 0 Vicente Calderon Stadium, Madrid
Yellow cards:ATL - Gabi 51', Mario Suarez 59' CEL - Beram Kayal 74', Glenn Loovens 87'
