Celtic and Benfica fought out a tight, chess-like, game in their opening Champions League group stage encounter. Celtic had the best of the opening 15 minutes as Benfica seemed to spooked by the occasion. Kris Commons, in particular, made good on his pre-match promise to make the most of his Champions League stage, but once Benfica settled action inside the penalty boxes was limited.
Emilio Izaguirre picked up an early booking, the result of poor positioning and a mistimed tackle, and thereafter was subject to continual pressing from Benfica as they sought-out a weak point. He was replaced after 65 minutes; part of a change of formation which benefited Celtic.
Neither team had a chance worthy of the name but both had good claims for a penalty. Rodrigo raced after an immaculately times forward ball and collided with the impregnable Fraser Forster. The Italian referee waved play on. Five minutes from time James Forrest at last got space to exploit inside the box but Garay caught him mid-flight. Forrest fell, to no avail.
Kelvin Wilson gave his best performance in a Celtic shirt alongside his initial central defensive partner, Mikael Lustig, then alongside Thomas Rogne, when Lustig retired injured shortly after the hour. As Benfica pressed Wilson and Charlie Mulgrew always tried to hold the ball and make a pass. Benfica were strong on the wings and Adam Matthews returned to his best defensive duties to counter.
Victor Wanyama, who also collected an early booking, struggled with concentration throughout the game but Scott Brown put in a tireless shift alongside him.
The change in formation after 65 minutes, when Gary Hooper replaced Izaguirre, improved Celtic enormously. Hooper used his strength effectively to lead the line, whereas Miku looked a forlorn figure until then. The 4-4-2 Celtic now deployed also gave Forrest space to exploit for the first time.
Wilson and Brown both played very well but Kris Commons was easily man of the match. There seemed no part of the field he was not prepared and able to launch an attempt at goal from. Late in the first half, when Benfica were enjoying their best spell, Commons twice in quick succession used his remarkable understanding of the game by successfully tempting an opponent to foul him. Pressure was released and Celtic gained a territorial advance.
Celtic never looked to be in any real danger of losing a goal and the vocal crowd believed a glimpse of daylight inside the Benfica box could deliver all three points but the opportunity never arrived.
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Over the moon to be invited by Eurochamps, Jobo and BSR into the fabled Gazebo at last.
Was not expecting to have to stand in so much horse shit but being from Shangri La not fazed by rural ambience of hallowed halls.
Morning all.
I thought the draw was a fair result last night. Benfica looked a class team. There is a lot we can learn from the likes of them, about technique and confidence on the ball, I thought Wilson was our best player by a long way. I actually thought Michu played very well because he got no service, apart from punts up the park for the first hour. I thought Mathews and Forrest, especially in the first half looked overawed. But they’ll learn. Let’s hope Sammi and Ledley and Kayal are fit for Moscow.
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HAil Hail
Modren HTC X8 is rubbish.
Is it just me or has facebook been as slow as S***e these last two days ??
Hail Hail
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Take the survey
HAil Hail
Considering the players missing and that we were playing a Pot 2 side who ran last seasons CL winners very close, i don’t see how anyone could be peed off with last nights result
Unless of course you are Alasdair Lamont of BBC Scotland, who was spitting feathers in his match report that we didn’t get beat
In the real world we are fighting for 3rd with Spartak. The manager + players are gaining valuable experience at this level. Now lets start going on a long unbeaten run in the league so that we have some breathing space ahead of crucial CL games in the autumn
It was superb to see CL football back at CP
It sure beats getting knocked out of the Ramsdens Cup eh?
Not the worst result we could have had. It’s a difficult group and I can see points being dropped between all three teams chasing Barce. A clean sheet in Europe is always good for the confidence.
Good return to the Champions League.
We had a weakened team last night, I think Tony Watt should have been given a run before an injured Hopper.
Brown was outstanding, Wanyama had to pull back a bit after the yellow card, but still played a great game.
I thought Commons ran out of steam in the last 20 minutes, but in fairness he had covered every blade of grass up to that.
Izzy is definitely suffering a confidence crisis at the moment.
The team were out of shape but still played well. However, we had no cutting thrust up front.
It was a game Sammi would have excelled in.
Two things that really annoyed me;
First, why do we constantly give possession back to the opposition from our throw ins ?
Secondly, with a minute or two to go, we get a free and instead of bringing the big men up and putting the ball into the danger area, we pass the ball square and flute about with it until the whistle is blown.
And we need to score more from corners.
Anyway, well done Neil, a tricky start, but looking good.
Great atmosphere last night. Thought we showed them too much respect and had to be wary after they got us cynically booked.. Big Victor was being careful.. At this level we need to watch the play acting as the refs fall for it. Moreover I m in 102, and twice the linesman and extra linesman called it wrong AGAINST US bottling their decisions. One time the ball bounced off linesman and stayed on the pitch and they did not seem to know the correct rule. I don’t either but it’s not my job!!
Great to see Michael Jamieson..
Delighted Celtic on the big stage!!
HH
DBBIA
No its TOTALLY awesome
Hail HAil
Before I go out can I put forward a wee teenzy weenzical
cynical fact about our last two games.
Three hours of football – 1 shot at goal(Commons goal up at Perth).
So where exactly are we ?
Confused – CSC
Kevjungle
The same place as Benfica
except C comes behind B
Hail Hail
Loved this wee comment from the Annan chairman following TFPLG comments on their pitch. Just reminding SevCo who + what they are
“If Man United and Chelsea can play a Champions League Final in Moscow on an artificial pitch the same as we have, I’m pretty sure two Third Division sides can at Galabank.”
Kevjungle
Cheerio Cheerio Cheerio
Hail HAil
Awe_Naw_No_Annoni_Oan_Anaw_Noo
09:32 on 20 September, 2012
_____________________________
Ahhhh.
My world is all perfect again. Thanx
Off oot
God Bless
Hail Hail
laters….
Morning all
I thought Broony was fantastic, probably his best game ever for Celtic, given it was CL. Big Vic was not far behind, and Wilson, Mathews and Charlie played well. I agree that Commons was our most effective player going forward but he loses the ball to easily, maybe that is because he always is looking for a pass and his team mates are not on the same wavelength. We probably would have won if Sammy was playing, big games are his thing.
Celtic Fans as always were fantastic.
Hail Hail
Thanks to the Bhoys for a hard fought, if ultimately frustrating display last night.
Just a wee thought on James Forrest’s performance:
His tussle with the left-back reminded me of a league match at Celtic Park against Dundee in the early 80s, when Davie Provan was pitted against a young left-back by the name of Tosh McKinlay: I remember DP getting pelters from some of the crowd as he repeatedly tried and failed to get the better of the defender. It looked, at first sight, like Davie was just having a stinker.
Of course, it turned out that Tosh was a pretty good defender and had done his homework perfectly on DP (who would have been in his mid-to-late 20s at the time).
For me, James is every bit as good as DP was, with the added advantage of being a bit faster than Davie. With the additional point that JF has just turned 21 and that the whole team (backroom and players) is on the steep part of a Champions League learning curve, I look forward to seeing how James develops and is deployed in the weeks ahead: I’m sure he and his coaches will reflect on the question of how he might improve his impact against the sort of quality left back we seldom find in the SPL.
Perhaps, also, it was worth keeping James on the park for both the experience he would gain and the possibility that – by dint of his pace – he was tying up a left back who might otherwise have been overlapping on the counter-attack. If so, then we didn’t have anyone else on the bench who has James’ pace and would therefore have caused the defender to think twice about venturing upfield …
FF
Morning supporters in Celtic
for all the ball possession we didn’t threaten enough. Miku will improve. Atmosphere stunning. The lucky girl in the seat directly in front of me won the windfall
Kris Commons could do with losing a stone.
DBBIA/Gastric Band CSC
Did this ever get a mention on here?
Revealed: Football chiefs’ secret plan to strip Rangers of nine trophies over EBT tax dodge
Overall, a very strong team performance. Neil Lennon made the best of an injury hampered squad by using the best possible partnerships available to him.
Brown MOTM. Wanyama and Wilson also excellent.
Izzy had a poor game, especially first half, but if I have a minor gripe it would be the decision to take him off for Hooper. He was beginning to show signs of recovery in the 2nd half. Taking him off meant we had one of our most ineffective left hand sides – Mulgrew/Commons (look how Mulgrew’s play went downhill after he was shifted to LB) – and also brought a halt to the Commons/Miku partnership, when there were indications they were developing a better understanding, with Commons going more central link up.
I think it’s obvious Izzy is suffering from a lack of confidence – a foul high up the park early in the first half was caused by a certain lack of commitment, and he mistimed the challenge. Hopefully the fans won’t get on his back too much.
Forrest, on the other hand, is learning on the job. Coming up against a superior defence who doubled up on him, he grew less sure of himself and his decision making suffered.
I was disappointed Tony Watt didn’t get a game, but you can understand why Neil Lennon didn’t want to risk his lack of experience at this level. In hindsight, he may have made the difference rather than a semi-fit Hooper.
a tempered, well measured display by the bhoys, orchestrated and well planned by our maturing management team.
a pinch of Vic and a grating of Scott = a Neil Lennon
I think we would be a much better team if we went down less easily. I believe we are coached to do this but it interrupts any attempts at free flowing football. It is obvious that the Latin and European gene has a strain of bare faced cheating DNA in that we witnessed all too readily last night it and I agreed with Paul Lamberts assessment that we need to join in or be left behind.
I just think that the individual decision to go down so easily sacrifices team development.
For the record:
Hooper, Commons, Forrest, Sammi, Kayal, Stokes alll go down far too easily far too often
Hail Hail
Mearns to Milton
…..did you ask her out?
:0)
I thought Izzys booking last night was shocking. Never a booking in a million years.
Hail Hail
I posted a few weeks ago that I feared for the Celtic future of young players like Tony Watt.
I wonder what he was thinking when the injured Hooper got a game last night before him?
Emdy?
Philbhoy – It’s just the beginning!
Are you related to Kevjungle ?
KIt
I cut and paste to stop the Record getting hits.
News Scottish News
By Keith Jackson 18 Jul 2012 08:25
Revealed: Football chiefs’ secret plan to strip Rangers of nine trophies over EBT tax dodge
EXCLUSIVE: FOOTBALL bosses drafted a bombshell document that included plans to strip Rangers of five SPL titles and four Scottish Cups.
FOOTBALL chiefs produced a secret plan to strip Rangers of five SPL titles and four Scottish Cups.
The bombshell document, seen by the Daily Record, was drafted after talks involving the SFA, SPL, Scottish Football League and representatives of Charles Green’s Sevco.
It outlines a range of punishments for Rangers for the Employment Benefit Trust tax dodge used by Sir David Murray’s regime to pay players.
If enforced, the penalties listed would be the harshest ever seen in football. They include:
? STRIPPING the club of their league titles from 2002/3, 2004/5, 2008/9, 2009/10 and 2010/11;
? WIPING OUT Rangers’ Scottish Cup triumphs of 2001/2, 2002/3, 2007/8 and 2008/9;
? FORCING Rangers to accept the one-year transfer embargo imposed by the SFA and overturned by the Court of Session;
? ORDERING Green’s newco to pay Rangers’ old football debts to clubs in Scotland and Europe.
The draft plan was clearly designed by the football authorities to parachute Rangers into Division One of the SFL and protect Scottish football’s TV and marketing revenues.
SFL chairmen voted overwhelmingly last Friday to place Rangers in Division Three, but the Record understands that does NOT mean the punishments in the secret plan will never be imposed.
The SPL will decide on August 10 whether Rangers broke their rules by using EBTs and “dual contracts”, and the document sheds light on the football authorities’ thinking over possible penalties for the club.
It remains a draft, and no agreement has been reached between Sevco and the authorities.
But it appears Green’s firm were willing to accept some if not all of the draft – at least when the prospect of Division One football was on the table.
And the scale of the penalties listed – before Rangers have even been convicted over EBTs – will horrify fans of the club.
Many Rangers supporters will also believe the document undermines the SFA’s judicial process.
The killer section of the document states: “EBT Sanctions means (i) the withdrawal of Rangers FC, RFC and Sevco of the award and status of Champion Club (as defined in the SPL rules) of the Scottish Premier League for each and all of seasons 2002/3, 2004/5, 2008/9, 2009/10 and 2010/11:
“(ii)The withdrawal from Rangers FC, RFC and Sevco of the award and status of winner of the Scottish Cup for each and all of seasons 2001/2, 2002/3, 2007/8, and 2008/9.”
The document also contains an ultra-strict confidentiality agreement. It states: “Neither RFC nor Sevco may make any disclosure to a third party, press release or public announcement whatsoever about, concerning or relating to this agreement … except with the express prior written consent of each of the SFA, the SPL and the SFL.”
The loss of five league titles would cut Rangers’ total from 54 to 49 and strip them of their status as the most prolific league winners in world football. Northern Irish club Linfield, with 50 titles, would take over.
Celtic finished second in all five of the SPL seasons listed. If the titles were stripped from Rangers and awarded to their Old Firm rivals, Celtic’s total number of championships would rise to 48.
The runners-up in the four Scottish Cups listed were Celtic, Dundee, Queen of the South and Falkirk. The document is silent on the issue of whether the clubs would be named as winners in place of Rangers.
The idea of stripping a club of nine trophies is unprecedented in modern football.
Italian giants Juventus were relegated and stripped of two titles for match-fixing in 2006. They continue to dispute the decision.
Another match-fixing scandal, in France, saw Marseille forfeit their 1993 league title. But they were allowed to keep the Champions League title they won in the same year.
The draft document also insists that Rangers must drop their legal challenge against the SFA transfer embargo, imposed largely as a punishment for the failure to pay tax under Craig Whyte.
The club went to the Court of Session and got the ban overturned. Judge Lord Glennie ruled that the association acted beyond their powers, and ordered them to reconsider.
The club enraged the SFA by going to law. The move also angered FIFA, who insist that clubs should not take their associations to court.
Experts warned that the world governing body could impose bans on Scottish clubs or even the national team unless Rangers backtracked.
The document says that as well as accepting the embargo, Rangers must pay the SFA’s £31,000 costs and the £160,000 fine imposed at the same time as the transfer ban.
The draft deal goes on to state that the Rangers newco will take responsibility for all the football debts run up by the “oldco” – a long list of unpaid bills owed to clubs in Scotland and on the continent.
The oldco went bust owing Hearts £800,000, Dunfermline £83,000, Dundee United £66,000, Celtic and Inverness Caley Thistle £40,000 each, and Aberdeen an undisclosed amount.
Another £1.8million is owed to clubs in England and Europe, including £1million to Austrian side Rapid Vienna for striker Nikica Jelavic.
Green has set off to meet officials from UEFA in a bid to settle the issue of the football debts.
He accepts that the problem must be resolved before newco Rangers can be accepted as members of the SFA. But he wants to strike a deal to make it easier for Sevco – and the club – to shoulder the burden.
He said: “There are certain old club debts to European clubs. It is about £3million, accumulated as part of the historical baggage.
“These are oldco debts newco has got to face up to.
“We want to be honourable. We are people who face up to responsibility. We don’t want them to be waived. We don’t expect them to be waived.
“But we want some help in meeting these because we do want to get Rangers back to the top of the pile.
“And when we do get back into Europe – whether it’s five or 10 years or 20 years – we want to walk back with our heads held high.
“I would like the clubs and UEFA to recognise these are not my debts, and for them to work with us where we can come to some amicably agreeable settlement and move forward together as friends.”
The SFA will consider Rangers’ application for membership next week.
As part of that process, the club’s new chairman, Malcolm Murray, met officials from the governing body yesterday to give more information on the identities of Sevco’s investors.
The SFA confirmed they had received information and requested more. They added that Rangers’ administrators, Duff & Phelps, had been carrying out “fit and proper person” checks on the proposed new directors of the club, alongside the SFA’s own investigations.
The SFA said they were “in dialogue” with Rangers over the transfer embargo row.
They added: “Now that the club’s status has been confirmed by the SPL and SFL, we will consider the award of transfer once Rangers FC satisfy the necessary criteria.”
If newco Rangers are accepted as SFA members, they will start their new season away to Brechin City in the Ramsdens Cup at Glebe Park on July 28.
A few impressive individual performances, a few never really got going and a couple never turned up.
Overall, we competed well with a very good side.
However, failing to have a single shot at goal over 90 minutes at home? Poor.
Awe Naw….
……he’s my granda!
Philbhoy – It’s just the beginning!
Is he like Frankie Boyles Granda ?
MarshmallowCSC
Hail Hail
Someone should tell them that stripping trophies for illegally fielding players is not a punishment but merely a consequence of their actions.
No Bobby Does It Petta
Except we had 3 shots on traget last night.
DId you actually watch the game Bobby ?
Or are you daft enough to believe what you read ?
HAil Hail
traget=target
LordLuvRocket
No it is just returning of stolen goods.
HAil Hail
Solid performance last night although as many have pointed out Izzy and James not one of them.
Am I alone in thinking that our travels abroad in the CL will be more fruitful than years gone past? From evidence of last years EL and the qualifying games this year I believe we have developed into a very good counter attacking team. ( A trait you often witnessed by European teams when they visited CP who would snatch a goal with a quick breakaway ).
For me I am much more optimistic this year than in previous ventures abroad, should be interesting.
Hail! Hail!
Forget the Forrest pen claim Saw this on the back page of the Mail today.
This blatant hand ball on a goal bound header was a bigger reffing gaff IMHO.
http://www.snspix.com/7899938/print/7899938.html
Honest mistakes must happen everywhere I guess!!
HH
/Bishop B