The Alexandro Bernabei buzz is real and Celtic 6-1 Hibs showed why

The evergreen winger, making his first start since last May’s title decider at Tannadice, became the 30th player in Celtic’s history to score 100 goals for the club after netting a hattrick in the resounding 6-1 win.

Giorgos Giakoumakis also got in on the act with a double against the Edinburgh side while a late Daizen Maeda strike rounded off a comfortable afternoon in paradise for the champions.

After a disappointing night in the Champions League against Leipzig midweek, it was an invigorating performance with plenty of positives for manager Ange Postecoglou.

One of those positives was another very encouraging display by Argentine left-back Alexandro Bernabei.

Bernabei, who impressed at McDiarmid Park last week in his first Premiership start since his move from Lanus in the summer, was given his second league start in a row after starting the midweek loss to Leipzig on the bench.

The 22-year-old has found opportunities hard to come by in the early stages of his Celtic career, mostly due to the consistent form of Greg Taylor, but seized his chance again on Saturday with a fine performance, particularly going forward.

Here, we break down Bernabei’s performance, on and off the ball, in Saturday’s emphatic win through several key moments...

On-the-ball

Bernabei was heavily involved from the off as Celtic made a blistering start to the match, linking up well with the equally impressive Sead Haksabanovic down the left and getting into advanced areas to exploit Hibs’ exposed right side.  

Cross (6 mins)

He showed an early glimpse of his ability to produce quality deliveries in those advanced areas after just over five minutes.

Picking up the ball from Aaron Mooy in the second phase of a set-piece, Bernabei had time and space to measure his first cross of the game in the left half-space.

He produced a nicely shaped ball which dropped on top of the Hibs’ defence towards the back post where Anthony Ralston was only inches away from connecting.

Assist (17 mins)

His next delivery into the box was right on the money though, with his precise low cross putting the ball on a plate for Giakoumakis to double Celtic’s lead inside 20 minutes.

Bernabei inverted to offer the underlapping run as Haksabanovic received wide on the touchline from Moritz Jenz.

Already with a yard or so on Martin Boyle, he starts to make the run in behind Hibs’ high line.

Haksabanovic spotted the Argentine’s run and played a nicely weighted ball down the side of the Hibs defence for Bernabei to run onto. In the middle, Giakoumakis was starting to make his run to attack the box.

As the ball went down the line, Boyle continued to attempt to track Bernabei but never quite managed to match him or then prevent the former Lanus man from latching onto Haksabanovic’s ball to play a bending low cross across the face of Hibs’ backline.

The precision ball landed perfectly at Giakoumakis, who freed himself from Paul Hanlon, and the Greek striker slammed the ball past former Celtic keeper David Marshall.

In his 90-plus-minutes on the park, Bernabei attempted a total of four crosses, with two, including his delivery for Gaikoumakis’ first goal, finding a team-mate.

Ball in behind (69 mins)

Bernabei exploited space in between Hibs’ lines throughout the match, inverting to great effect on numerous other occasions, such as in the above example in the second half. 

Here he has far too much space again but once more shows his quality on the ball to make the most of that space.

Receiving the ball inside from substitute Maeda, he demonstrated good variation in his passing with a lovely outside of the left ball in behind for the Japanese forward to run onto in behind.

Bernabei’s overall influence on the ball is evident in the above pass network which highlights just how busy the left-hand side of Celtic was with a strong connection between the Argentine and Haksabanovic.

His overall on-ball value (OBV), now used by StatsBomb to measure pass contributions rather than an xG value, was 0.17, the third highest on the pitch behind fellow standout Haksabanovic and Aaron Mooy, who also arguably had his best game in a Celtic shirt.

He also had the joint most open-play final third passes (17), underlining just how often he was looking to make things happen in advanced areas. In total, he attempted 61 open-play passes, with an 83 per cent completion rate.

Off-the-ball

Bernabei's quality on the ball on Saturday was clear. However, he also impressed without the ball too.

He racked up the most pressures of any Celtic player (14), joint with Hibs’ Josh Campbell for the most in the match. He also clocked the game’s most counterpressures (6), pressures exerted within five seconds of the ball being turned over.

The above pressure frequency heatmap shows just how intense his pressing was throughout the match.

His highest intensity pressures are in the left-back area but there are also frequent pressures in the left half-space and also inside Hibs’ box, highlighting just how high he was pressing at points in the match.

Interception (79 mins)

Bernabei also stood out in a couple of other defensive metrics, including recording a match-high of three interceptions. He also had one tackle, two clearances and, impressively given his stature, two aerial wins.

One of those three interceptions came late in the game and perfectly encapsulated his tenacity out of possession.

Hibs’ midfielder Noah Kenneh cleared the ball out of the box following a Celtic cross, towards the right side, and into the path of teammate Campbell. The Hibs man was more than favourite for the ball as it ran out to the wide right area.

Bernabei demonstrated his electric pace to eat up the yards though, getting across to block Campbell’s ball up the line, halting any opportunity for the visitors to counter.

Defensively, it is also worth noting that Bernabei was dribbled past twice, dispossessed twice, and penalised for three fouls. Becoming more secure in possession will be one area for him to work on and develop.  

Conclusion

On an afternoon full of positives for Postecoglou, the dynamic performance of Bernabei would have been particularly pleasing for the Celtic manager.

After having to bide his time to get his opportunity, the young Argentine appears to be growing into the Celtic shirt with each passing game.

Powerful and pacy, Bernabei certainly offered another exciting glimpse into what he can offer this side, on and off the ball. It will be fascinating to see how he continues to develop as the season unfolds.

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