Nir Bitton had quite an 8-day run.

Nir Bitton
Nir Bitton

Last Monday (September 5) he played in a World Cup qualifier for Israel against Italy, on Saturday he took the field in the Old Firm for Celtic, and yesterday plied his trade on the pitch in Champions League action against Barcelona.

It was a mixed bag of results for the 6ā€™5ā€ defensive midfielder in his stretch of 8 days, 3 games, 2 continents, and 3500 air miles.

In Haifa he played for the national team for 57 ferocious minutes before he was subbed off for Omer Atzili in a 3:1 loss to the Azzurri. On Saturday morning in Glasgow he played the entire match for Celtic in the Old Firm derby against Rangers, which the Hoops won 5:1. And on Tuesday evening he, and the rest of his teammates, were the recipients of an all-time Champions League beat-down by star-studded Barcelona at the Nou Camp, as the Catalans dispatched their Scottish guests 7:0; Bitton was mercifully subbed off in the 76th minute after the 6th Barcelona goal.

(But seriously, watch some of the goals that Barca scored last night. Please.)

Bitton and Celtic are off until Sunday, when they take on Inverness in Scottish Premier League play, and their next Champions League match will take place on September 28 when they host Manchester City- not an easy follow-up to Barcelona. Bitton will definitely be busy again at the back.

Two other Israelis will be taking the field in Champions League play today: Lior Refaelov and Club Brugge host Leicester City, and Bibras Natkho and CSKA Moscow travel to Bayer Leverkusen.

This post has been contributed by a third party. The opinions, facts and any media content are presented solely by the author, and JewishBoston assumes no responsibility for them. Want to add your voice to the conversation? Publish your own post here. MORE