Celtic defender Moritz Bauer holds “no hard feelings” towards Jordan Jones after the Rangers winger phoned to apologise for the tackle that led to his Old Firm red card.
Bauer, 27, was making his debut when he was scythed down in the closing minutes of the 2-0 Scottish Premiership win.
Jones injured himself in the process and missed Northern Ireland’s Euro 2020 qualifiers this week.
“I didn’t expect it,” Austrian right-back Bauer said of the phone call.
“It was a very positive surprise and it is a big compliment to him. He asked about how I feel and whether he caught me and he apologised for the tackle. It was nothing personal. It was just an act of emotion.
“It’s a badly timed tackle and luckily I didn’t injure myself. Unfortunately, he caught himself a bit. The day after, we spoke and I really appreciate that. So we can sweep it off the table and look forward now.”
Bauer has joined Celtic on loan from Stoke City for the season after falling out of favour at the English Championship club.
The six-time capped Austrian has also fallen out of the international reckoning since his 2018 switch from Rubin Kazan.
“It’s not a usual move to come up here, but as soon as I heard Celtic, I was really buzzing because it’s an amazing opportunity to play in Europe and play for titles,” he said.
“I couldn’t have chosen a better time to be here. It is a great atmosphere. With two big wins, we qualified for Europe and won the first derby of the season.
“It was, like we say in Germany, like winning six numbers in the lottery. For us, there is no better start to the season.”
