Falcao took advantage of some terrible marking to head the home side ahead from a third-minute corner.
A good sliding challenge from Charlie Mulgrew gave away a corner and the €40m Colombian striker Falcao – the club’s most expensive player ever – ran between two defenders to powerfully head Diego’s delivery home from 10 yards.
Gary Hooper had an early effort blocked and, early in the second half, Ki Sung-yueng’s powerful drive had to be tipped over the bar by Thibaut Courtois.
Atletico put the game beyond Celtic when Diego ran on to Arda Turan’s cut-back to shoot home.
Turan skipped away from Mark Wilson and got to the bye-line before pulling the ball back for Diego to find the bottom corner of the net with a well-placed first-time strike.
Celtic responded with strikes from Joe Ledley and Kayal, both rising too high to trouble Courtois.
Former Arsenal man Jose Antonio Reyes almost set up a late goal for the home side after a burst into the penalty box but Forster got a hand to Turan’s shot and Kelvin Wilson was on hand to hack the ball clear as it rolled towards the goal.
Despite the result Celtic can take some pride in matching the big-spending Spanish club for long periods.
Next stop: Ibrox…Sunday, 12.30pm.
Atletico Madrid: Courtois, Perea, Godin, Miranda, Antonio Lopez, Turan, Mario Suarez, Diego (Tiago 84), Gabi (Adrian 70), Koke (Reyes 56), Falcao. Subs Not Used: Sergio Asenjo, Salvio, Pizzi, Dominguez.
Goals: Falcao 3, Diego 68. Booked: Gabi, Mario Suarez.
Celtic: Forster, Mark Wilson (Matthews 80), Kelvin Wilson, Loovens, Mulgrew, Kayal, Ki, Ledley (Bangura 78), Hooper, Forrest (Commons 83), Samaras. Subs Not Used: Zaluska, George, Filip Twardzik, Wanyama.
Booked: Kayal, Loovens.
Att: 25,000
Ref: Peter Rasmussen (Denmark).
Tags: