Shakhtar Donetsk’s result in Leipzig last week spooked me. It precipitated Leipzig sacking their manager, lancing the boil before we get to play them and fortified Shakhtar, the lowest seed we will face, with an invaluable three away points. The Ukrainians will now expect to finish second in the group.
Although that 1-4 result in Leipzig is better than anything Celtic have achieved on the road in our Champions League endeavours, there is comfort in the match stats. Shakhtar had five attempts at goal in total, all four that were on target found the net. Leipzig created three times as many chances and the visitors achieved what they did with 32% possession. And let’s not forget, a team that finished below us in Scotland last season recorded a 2-4 win in Dortmund earlier this year.
For 50 minutes, the Celtic performance against Real Madrid last midweek was as impressive as I can recall against a genuinely top team. We have seen Champions League wins against Milan, Barcelona and Manchester United, but never with such attacking confidence.
The squad have the benefit of eight days to prepare and, importantly, Kyogo should be fit. I also hope we see Liel Abada start. I disagree with the notion he could have done better with a shot at goal against Real. It was a low probability chance, with all other options blocked by the covering defender. His substitution at halftime was the one mistake I chalked up to Ange Postecoglou.
It is going to be a big night for the defence. Moritz Jenz will be in the team ahead of schedule, but like so many others, he has started the season well and will take the field with confidence. It will also be an occasion for reinforcements from the bench. We still fade around the hour mark, fortunately, Ange has plenty in reserve to trouble opponents at this level.
As we touched on yesterday, the first thing the players need to do is develop an aggressive instinct, leave their opponents to be affected by emotions. Get the result and leave the flag waving until later.
Martin O’Neill Brunch, Dalziel Park Hotel, Motherwell, afternoon of Sat 24 September
The man that changed everything, Martin O’Neill, is coming to Motherwell Saturday 24 September! The event will be compared by our pal, Phil Agnew. There will photo opportunities, some cups will be there too. Donations will go to the Kano Foundation and local charities.
Kick off is 11:45am, for tickets, call Alan on 07970 716422. Cost, including brunch, is £50.
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Last season’s Europa campaign saw gradually improving performances. We scored a good few on the road but conceded plenty as well. The Bodo debacle was our last game on foreign soil.
This is a new season so clean slate. The feeling persists that we will still need to score three times to get anything from the game. We certainly don’t want RBL to get points in Madrid.
From videocelts
There will be no minutes silence in Warsaw tonight ahead of Celtic’s Champions League clash with Shakhtar Donetsk.
With thousands of Ukrainians killed since the Russian invasion and millions forced to leave their country it would be in poor taste if everyone involved in the match had to pay extra respect to a 96-year-old woman.
Hello again all you young rebels.
Interesting debate going on regarding when to sub players, do
it if there’s no sign of a goal coming for your team, or if the defence
is all over the place ?
Who’s to say if a sub would work ?
Just maybe a player we all know is having a mare, will pop up with
the winner.
It’s happened before hasn’t it ?
And how many times have we made substitutions and the end result
is a defeat .
Maybe good coaches know and trust the quality players in their team
to deliver when it matters, whether it’s the 50th, 60th, or whenever.
We’re all master tacticians watching, but when it comes to fold or
twist, phew, thank god I don’t need to decide, especially when 60 thousand
fanatics are screaming at me 🙃
H.H. Mick
Ernie
And then what happened?
-Michael Fagan was in the bed
More importantly why did it happen?
-Liz let security know Michael roamed far and wide in the Royal passages
Physical exhaustion?
-Michael was tired,but lizzi had a knowing contented grin.
Mental exhaustion?
-Fiver to John the security guy in a Clapham pub and Michael could go medieval on lizzi for over 2 or 3 hours.
Something else?
It had to stop.lizzi grew to like Michael alas class differences meant Michael’s rights on the royal passage were no more.
Things were never the same after as Phil was outgreeked :-))
Marmalade was a lubricant Michael told me.
Enjoyable op ed Pablo.
Minor disagreement from me re Liel Abada being hooked.
Great wee player doing more for us than can reasonably be expected.
But that night, IMHO, he looked spooked so being hooked was the correct action tooked
MELBOURNE MICK on 14TH SEPTEMBER 2022 1:46 PM
You’d expect someone to last longer than ten minutes after a 15 minute half time break.
Also teams do change the way they play after half time if the way the game is going dictates it, Ancelotti said they concentrated on a couple of things in the break that made the difference in the second half.
CELTIC40ME
Thanks for the reply, it’s just my thoughts, and at my age I know
through watching the bhoys for 70 odd years that I’ve had my
mind changed and made to look a fool when a player I thought
should be subbed turned up with the winner.
H.H. Mick
Marmalade were a wonderful group.
Ooobladee oooblada love goes on whoa
La la la la la the love goes on.
Maybe it was wee queenies favourite group
H.H. Mick
Are we being fair here ?
We played the current European champions Real Madrid, valued at £800m, led by the most successful manager in its history.
We are a year into redressing the post-Lawell/Lennon sh*tshow, playing normally in a footballing backwater.
Wee bit of perspective fhellas.
HH
SAINT STIVS on 14TH SEPTEMBER 2022 1:35 PM
mark burchille, hat trick juennese de ech 8-0 fastest everr hat trick
——
I couldn’t remember that exactly but I knew it was
‘Someone, Somewhere, In Summertime’
I am never confident when we go away from home in Europe against anyone. Our form does not back it up. I will be happy to get anything from the tie tonight. This competition features the best club sides in the world. We are on a severe learning curve where mistakes are punished severely. Steady on the lavish predictions, I would take a deflected 90th minute 1-0.
MELBOURNE MICK on 14TH SEPTEMBER 2022 2:00 PM
There has to be a good reason that we don’t swap the runners at half time before fatigue can even enter the equation.
Maybe we’ll get to that at some point what with having so many interchangeable midfielders these days. Maybe we’ll end up with 30 minute players and two subs on 30 and two more on 60? Sounds stupid but you never know
It used to be that the starting 11 was not only considered to be better than the subs but also saw the lions share of the coaching in formation, so the manager would rather see those players play for longer. I’m not sure since Ange has been here that’s so much the case though, we don’t change s d everyone knows their job
Looking forward to the game but have no idea how it will pan out tonight.
I predicted 2-4 before RM and that could easily have been the result. This time I have no gut feel
CELTIC40ME
Yes the game has changed so much, Ange’s game is so much
about giving your all for as long as you can, who am I to argue ?
But… but sometimes that wee bit of class from one tired player ????
Nice bit of debate though.
H.H. Mick
SCULLY @1.38
Don’t know.
@1.44
Timothy Weah…..his record? again don’t know.
Double whammy CSC.
Weah are celtic supporters..now a song in the making.
Tough game tonight, Ange and the coaches will realise that, from his presser he is still annoyed that the team stopped playing the way he wanted them to after the hour mark, clearly he will not give too many chances to players who wont put in in on the park, Shakhtar seem a decent side and Mudryk is a good player on the left who can finish, doubt it will be 0 0 so if we can score 3 in Betis in blazing heat lead in Germany going into the latter stages then we can bag a couple of goals tonight hopefully and play until the final whistle.
In other news.
Regulation score of 4-0 to Napoli against plucky wee southsiders, down on their luck….
A modest 40/1.
Lump on.
HH
MELBOURNE MICK on 14TH SEPTEMBER 2022 2:34 PM
👍
dessybhoy
Our ability to score goals away from home in a decent Europa League group gives me some confidence that we can come back from Poland with some kind of a result. Three in Spain, three in Hungary, and two in Germany, eight away goals. We are a better team now than we were then, and we have beaten Shaktar before, albeit never in Warsaw. Bit of a truism, play our best football and we can win.
Melbourne Mick and Marmalade gives me an excuse to play
The Glasgow Road Dean Ford
https://youtu.be/QQtat8hn-18
Is it fergal Keane comparing the event ?
A draw away tonight, a draw away to red bull and home victories at home against both.
8pts CSC
who is this ‘red bull’ team that folk keep mentioning?
are salzburg in our group now?
Shaktar had four shots on target v Red Bull and scored four goals.
Made me wonder if Barkas had been loaned to RB.
GaryG
I saw the highlights in the pub after our game. ! was the keeper giving the striker the ball for a tap in; others were full RB ream in Shaktar half; backs to the wall and then striker and winger break out for 1 pass and tap in
weird game as Turkeybhoy said earlier. Outlier
Gary G
PS reminded me of the goal we lost to Ferencvaros in 2020 so the Barkas connection is there – sort of!
GGH
I read that Leipzig had 80 odd attacks to Shaktars 9.Incredible stat.Leipzig missed chances all night,hit the woodwork.
Take your chances.
My god is there no end to this monarchy pish!
So Huns,urged on by their rabidly staunch support,will disobey UEFA tonight and sing the National Anthem.
Puts UEFA right in it.What will they do ?Public opinion did not stop them fining us for the Palestinian display.
We will see.
MELBOURNE MICK on 14TH SEPTEMBER 2022 2:06 PM
Marmalade were a wonderful group.
Ooobladee oooblada love goes on whoa
La la la la la the love goes on.
Maybe it was wee queenies favourite group
H.H. Mick
Enjoy tonight Mick down under,and hopefully same result God willing up top(whatever those terms mean ,:-))
Same thing Celts the planet over want
A victory or a draw.to learn always
These games and the double vs RBL are our skwerr goes.they are a force and last week showed the standards we are playing against.no dropping them,I hope we build that syche of winning,the way we learn gives good signals
Enjoy Mick and hope the Bay is rocking
Hail Hail
Huns are good at staying silent. Not a peep from them in 2012, while their club headed into the abyss and they all walked away.
Think it’ll be a cracking atmosphere tonight. Millions of refugees in Poland, has seen a decent uptake of match tickets. I think we’ll have most possession and am hoping for any kind of win.
Bhoyjoebelfast on 14th September 2022 2:35 pm
SCULLY @1.38
Don’t know.
@1.44
Timothy Weah…..his record? again don’t know.
Double whammy CSC.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
You got Tim Weah correct and the record is – youngest Bhoy to score in Scottish Cup.
List
With sympathy as a surreal as
Beeps silenced on the tils as a matter if respect.
Condom machines not getting refilled
Weans electronic tomastank buggy at checkout- shut.
?
More
Interview with Giakoumakis from the official site…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtYsrDc-5F8&ab_channel=CelticFC
FOURSTONECOPPI on 14TH SEPTEMBER 2022 3:41 PM
My god is there no end to this monarchy pish!
————-
apparently the BBC is being re-branded to MournHub
BHOYJOEBELFAST
Charlie Nicholas Cup Winners’ Cup (Sep 3, 1980) Diósgyőri FC 2:1 Celtic FC 18 years 08 months
Tony Watt Champions League (7 November 2012) 2:1 Barca 18 years 10 months
How are you going to watch the match later?
A little bit of the 1923 Scottish Cup Final in Colour.
Warning flashing colours
Celtic 1 hibs 0.
The hibee who coloured says he did his best, i love the hooped shirts which flash red from time to time.
I can’t see the ball though.
Person who took time and effort to colour this lets us know the goal they conceded to us was the only one they conceded in the competition.
https://twitter.com/TheHibsAreHere/status/1569408107293409281?t=AylKMWYmld_tp5LiaToO4Q&s=19