Jota hoping Celtic can build after 'dream' Real Madrid clash

Celtic winger Jota admitted it was a "dream" to compete against Real Madrid but he will focus on improving for the remainder of their Champions League campaign rather than obsessing over how they compare to the holders.

Real head coach Carlo Ancelotti admitted his side struggled in the first half at Celtic Park but the Scottish champions missed a number of chances and ended up losing 3-0.

Liel Abada and Daizen Maeda both had glorious opportunities to open the scoring and Hoops captain Callum McGregor hit the inside of a post before second-half goals from Vinicius Junior, Luka Modric and Eden Hazard saw the Spaniards prevail.

Jota has played for Benfica in the Champions League, twice turning out against RB Leipzig in 2019, but facing the European champions and the likes of Modric and Karim Benzema was a step up.

"This is what dreams are made of," he said. "When I was young I used to see them on TV and I would say to myself: 'One day I want to be playing Champions League with these guys and compete against them.'

"It was a very happy day for me and my family because I got the opportunity to do that against some of the best players in the world.

"I don’t want to stop here, I just want to keep improving and improving.

"We don’t compare ourselves with the other teams. We compare ourselves with each other and just think about each other, that’s the most important thing. We just need to focus on ourselves, see what mistakes we did and go strong in the next one."

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou was downbeat after the game and stressed that his players shared his disappointment rather than taking positives from the chances they created.

Jota said: "We work hard every day to deliver results. Unfortunately we couldn’t do that but we also