Qualification for the knockout stages of the Champions League is an astonishing achievement for a team seeded in pot 4. You need only look around Europe to see how unforgiving this tournament is. The champions of England and Europe are both out, while England’s reigning champions last year went out at the group stage (to Benfica).
Amid numerous predictions of a comfortable victory I suggested yesterday that last night’s Spartak game would be difficult. What we now know is that Celtic eliminated two very good teams from this season’s Champions League. Benfica took four points off us, by all accounts, were the better team in the Camp Nou and dominated Barcelona in the early part of their game in Lisbon. They beat Spartak at home and pinned the Russian’s back into their own box for long periods of their game in Moscow.
This is the fourth time Benfica have faced Celtic and they have been eliminated on each occasion, always by the slenderest of margins.
Spartak finally got their act together last night under new boss Valery Karpin. Reaction in Russia suggested this was their best game of the season, and that Emenike, who has seldom shown the appetite for the game, was playing for the attention of scouts. They are a good team who enjoyed 60% possession away from home in Europe, although Celtic denied them genuine chances for most of the game.
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Spartak and Benfica will both believe they could have done better in the group but we got further evidence of a few football facts from this campaign:
It is more important to prevent defensive mistakes than to create chances.
The margin of difference between a well-organised team at this level and the very best in the world is slim, especially if the above point is observed.
Possession is overrated as an indicator of progress. Learn not to be stressed by it and to remain organised.
Discipline is an underrated indicator of progress.
I started Monday’s blog by saying, “Here is a prediction for you, Wednesday’s Champions League game at Celtic Park will not end with 22 players on the field”. Spartak are a good team but they had a man sent off against Celtic in Moscow when in a winning position, then kicked everything that moved last night, culminating in a red card for an assault on Kris Commons.
Indiscipline is an expensive commodity.
Neil Lennon will now have time to review the several elements of this campaign which worked well and the few which didn’t. Each tactical decision made was a risk but will have taught him things about his team. We will be well prepared for the next round.
As for Georgios, what a performance.
Epilepsy Scotland have a Celtic ball with certificate of authenticity, signed by 12 Celtic players on the day of the Barcelona game which is available for auction by email. The competition closes tomorrow (Thursday) at 20:00. To win this fantastic piece of Celtic memorabilia email your bid to trusts@epilepsyscotland.org.uk. The prize if for collection only, any postage required would need to be paid separately. All funds raised will go towards Epilepsy Scotland.
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Afternoon all
Feeling a touch fragile today – wonder why.
Watched game when I got home and was surprised at how well we played – at the game it was just too tense to truly appreciate. Glad I let my fingernails grow.
Superb team display – Kris C, Broonie and Hoops immense . And what of Sammi? With 25 mins to go I thought he was looking totally knackered- head down and maybe feeling a bit sorry for himself after doing a ton of work already. And then he gets his second wind and is inspired.
Not really worried who we draw- whoever we play is, by definition, a top class team and we’ll be underdogs. Suits me and I suspect NFL. As Sir Alex F said some teams come to Celtic Park and ‘melt’ – let’s hope we get one of the melters.
H x 2
Would like to see us strengthen the team in january, but not
just for the sake of it. Think we need creative players, but the
quality would have to better than what we have at the moment.
and we are last 16 CL quality the now.
Trouble with that is, that quality will not come cheap.
Is it right that players in europa league can still play in
the Champions league?
A couple of old heads with CL experience would fit the
bill until our younger players are ready to step up over
the next few seasons.
Did any other pot 4 team qualify ?
have to say I cannot believe just how well Sammi played last night, he looked genuinely world class, there is no doubt that the manager likes to use him sparingly and seems to be able to coax incredible performances from him when he does, they say that success breeds success and in the CL that is certainly the case, the club are getting not less than £23.5M from Uefa, plus gate receipts which means a total of somewhere north of £30M into the warchest less expenses, and thats before we get through to the quarters
We have beaten Barcelona, we should fear no-one, Malaga in the round of 16, Arsenal in the quarters, PSG in the semi and Barca in the final, doesnt sound that incredible does it ?
Regards the talk on the previous blog about all the players staying and would we add to the squad in January etc
Imo if Gary Hooper has not signed a new contract by the time the window opens in January, he will be sold. Allowing him to run down another 6 months on his deal which expires in the summer of 2014 will reduce his transfer fee considerably
I don’t see PL allowing that to happen and rightly so
CL last 16 qualifiers
7 from pot 1
3 from pot 2
3 from pot 3
3 from pot 4 (Dortmund, Malaga, Celtic)
TootingTim
12:24 on 6 December, 2012
Bundesliga break for a month, mid December to mid January
corkceltic. I hope you dont mind me responding to your post I think a lot of the points made by Izzy were sensible I think it was his timeing that was wrong.Last night was a time to enjoy our European success and discuss all that was good about it.I will nail my colours to the mast and say I cannot understand what brings a Rangers supporter on to a Celtic blog and what he gets out of CQN ? but that is me the forum is open to all Paul67 has made that very clear and as a guest on his sight I think I should obey his rules.I will not join in with the criticsm of Izzy as my experiences of Rangers supporters has given me a real dislike of them if that makes me a bigot so be it.H.H.
Just noticed my Twitter account has been suspended. Anyone else Ever have thus problem or how do you solve this?
SffS
Gazzeta dello Sport are running a poll on who would be the best possible opponents for Juventus. Celtic are currently out in front, with 36%, followed by Galatasaray and then Real Madrid. There is no doubt that the big European teams will continue to underestimate us – it is correct of course to rate us lower than others, but it is also fine by me. Everything we do now is a bonus.
I’d like to avoid Borussia, who actually strike me as the best team in Europe just now. Juventus would do me just fine – only 3 hours drive from where I live, although my neighbour is a Juve fan, so one of us would have to put up with some grief. I don’t think we’d beat them, but I didn’t think we’d beat Barcelona.
Great performance last night. For them, Ermineke was best man on the park first half (ran our central defense ragged singlehandedly, great performance), Samaras in the second. Interesting that Sammi seemed to be very much playing to instructions: tame the ball and run with it, draw players to you, stretch their shape, make space for others. Last night he did this much more than usual, so instructions. This means that he ran into lots of blind alleys, but it worked in the end. Samaras very seldom hides, despite what some think. Kris, Scotty and Lustig I also excellent (Lustig is a great signing).
Kevjungle
I also thought that McGowan would be an asset ,but after watching him against us and Hibernian he is not good enough.
Russell I would sign but we have to aim higher than the standard in Scotland.
I hope we are looking for a playmaker in midfield and a striker with genuine pace.HH
MickMacPaddyWhack ,
HH from a fellow page59-er .
Agree re an attempt to fill the ground. Celtic’s problem , imo , is that they would then be charging less per game than sb holder’s are charged .
Solution ? I don’t know . that’s for bigger brains than mine – i’m just content to be planning a wee excursion next Feb/Mar to either Germany , France , Spain or Italy .
PS Kano Caravan was rocking last night – all by my lonesome watching the game in a Warwickshire field but bhoy did i feel part of it.
HH
Sanna
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE STAT ATTACK
Comparing the group stage performances of the other 15 teams still in the Champions League with that of Celtic…
Only AC Milan and Galatasaray scored fewer goals
Only Real Madrid conceded more goals
Only AC Milan won fewer games
Only AC Milan amassed fewer points
Only Arsenal had fewer attempts on goal
None had fewer attempts on target
None had fewer attempted (or completed) passes
(in fact Celtic had fewer attempted passes than any other team in the group phase!)
None had a lower pass completion %-age
None had less ball possession
And none have played as many games in the competition this season as Celtic
But Celtic did enough to be the only fourth seeded team to finish as runners-up in their group… although Malaga and Borussia Dortmund outdid that performance by winning their groups in spite of being the fourth seeds!
This is how the seeds fared…
1st seeds: 3 won their groups, 4 finished 2nd, 1 finished 3rd and none finished 4th.
2nd seeds: 1 won their group, 2 finished 2nd, 3 finished 3rd and 2 finished 4th.
3rd seeds: 2 won their group, 1 finished 2nd, 2 finished 3rd and 3 finished 4th.
4th seeds: 2 won their group, 1 finished 2nd, 2 finished 3rd and 3 finished 4th.
Only 10 of the 32 teams finished according to their seeding… so what does this say about the seeding process?!!!
Celtic’s European record this season reads as follows: P 10 W 7 D 1 L 2 F 17 A 9
I’ll be quite happy if the 180 minutes of combat in the next round (against whomever) yields just one chance for Celtic, one shot on target, and one goal for a 1-0 aggregate win.
Schalke will do for me!!! off out to celebrate now as the weekend starts tonite……!!
corkcelt I like this site. I share your annoyance at the droning, catechistic, set piece litany of charges some feel entitled to direct at anyone who doesn’t share their views.
I’ll have to resist the temptation to become involved in futile exchanges with such posters for whom name calling is the first resort. Then demands to denounce this, that and the next bogeyman of the politically correct pseudo-socialists. Like a mediaeval witch hunt or a Stalinist show trial.
It’d be great to be able to tick an ignore button and thus not see these tedious witterings.
Oooooh-oh-oh-oh
I wish I was back home in Glasgow
Just ordered my CQN Annual Christmas present to myself.
Mon the Hoops!
Still delighted after last night.
Hail Hail!
RobinBhoy
Considering they had nothing to play for I was surprised at the number of Spartak fans who were there last night.
Is Parkhead/CP now seen as ‘must visit’ ground for fans?
Celtic_First (from prev thread)
For what its worth I totally agree with you… The overall coverage of football on STV has deteriorated over the last few years to the point of there being none at all. All comes down to money though…. And they have none.
I’m reading that every SPL team gets £235,000 from UEFA for youth development/infrastructure improvements due to our reaching the last 16.
This armageddon thing is no bad at all.
Dinnae ken if its already been posted, don’t care either :¬)
This for you CQN’ers…………..
Round of 16
The draw for the round of 16 will be held on 20 December 2012. The first legs will be played on 12, 13, 19 and 20 February, and the second legs will be played on 5, 6, 12 and 13 March 2013.
Quarter-finals
The draws for the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final (to determine the “home” team) will be held on 15 March 2013. The first legs will be played on 2 and 3 April, and the second legs will be played on 9 and 10 April 2013.
Semi-finals
The first legs will be played on 23 and 24 April, and the second legs will be played on 30 April and 1 May 2013.
FinalMain
article: 2013 UEFA Champions League Final
The final will be played on 25 May 2013 at Wembley Stadium in London, England.
V
Yet again re: Gary Hooper…1 chance = 1 goal !
The point being – make the chances and Hoops will put’em away.
2 reasons why I would bring in Hearts player Ryan McGowan
1 – He can play in several positions
2 – He can get stuck-in !
Only saying
KevJungle – MURDO’s 30 yds Title Winning Boots 1979
12:18 on
6 December, 2012
From previous article….
_____________________________
greenjedi
11:57 on 6 December, 2012
I think the biggest impact of making the last 16 at least, will be the better quality of bosmans we can now approach to sign for us in the summer
____________________________________________________________________
Hear, hear M8.
Nobody, not even me would urge our leaders to burst the bank just for the sake of it
ala – Thomas Graveason.
But, I would urge our leaders to bring in a couple of players in an attempt to put some meat on the bones going forward ala – Ryan McGowanand his team mate Kovikavas and Dundee Utd’s Johnny Russell.
Only saying
Hail Hail
…………..
I really don’t think you understood my post.
:-)
Oh what a night!
Theres only one team I want.
Juve.
Amoroso’s fall when noone was within 5 yards of him was the worse penalty decision I have seen anywhere. it cost us qualification in our first CL campaign.
We owe them one bigtime.
The Second and third worse penalties were giggs and saha. We were due one.
Sami the lind player that can get the manager a champions league medal.
greenjedi
12:38 on 6 December, 2012
_______________________________
Nah…maybe not :o)
KevJungle – MURDO’s 30 yds Title Winning Boots 1979
12:18 on 6 December, 2012
Russell & Mackay-Steven are the only 2 from SPL that we should be even thinking about signing, and not in January but in the summer when we will have a few leaving. If all our big players stay in January, and I think they will with CL football, then any monies spent should be on an attacking midfielder/playmaker. Given our scouts excellent hit rate in recent seasons they must have their eye on a gem from somewhere who can fill this position.
25 mins in……what a game / performance……was too stressed out to enjoy / appreciate last night ……what’s this shoite about Wilson / Efe not being impressive …..they were both brilliant…..and what a team performance ……THIS TEAM IS GOING PLACES…
,,,and that SPARTAK are a great team
Lind = kind of
Damn my fat fingers
I don’t mind you responding to my post at all Joe and I respect your point of view and the reasonable way you expressed it. I most certainly don’t have any time whatever for Hun Supporters but my dislike is for the collective and not the individual. I must admit that I live in Tipperary and only know one Hun Supporter. He is probably the only Hun in Tipperary and I get the greatest enjoyment of taking the Mick out of him. Its mostly fun but a couple of times he really lost it with me. We are both members of a Senior Golfing Society which is how we know each other, there are about 50 guys in Society, and there are plenty there who I would be a lot more friendly with. A couple of years back I broke my leg and was laid up, guess who was the first guy who called to see me.
sannabhoy I think it wouldn’t be a bad idea to sell £10 guest tickets to season ticket holders. It would bring in some extra revenue but more importantly fans.
Long standing season ticket holders could be given very cheap juvenile season tickets, or could share them.
The average age at Celtic Park is on the wrong side of fifty.
I don’t think it’s much different on CQN.
Apologies in advance to anyone who might take umbrage at my opinionated guess.
Vmhan (12:37): “The draws for the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final (to determine the “home” team) will be held on 15 March 2013”
Surely Chelsea are the “home” team?
Oh, sorry… they’re out already!
Sanna, it is true that those attending would be paying less than us season tickets holders, however the cash would be taken directly from the price of our season tickets foe next year.If it was a big success (Doubtful as people who would pay anything to see Champions League wont pay for domestic fare)it could mean a “Rebate ” for the Season ticket holders
If I recall correctly, ITV made a conscious decision not televise live, CL games involving Scottish sides.
Vmhan
12:37 on 6 December, 2012
________________________
2013….in the heat of Wemblee….
Did ITV not show our qualifier away to Helsingborg live? I was working down south and remember watching game, sure it was ITV
Do UEFA have a minimum percentage of tickets for away fans rule, 5%? 10%?
Malaga ground only holds about 30k so if we got them there will be very few tickets to go round.
Kayal33
12:40 on 6 December, 2012
____________________________
Agreed about Russell.
But, I think McKay-Stevens would get kicked up ‘n’ doon the pitch in a Celtic jersey.
Only saying.
HH
ernie lynch @12:36 on 6 December, 2012
“Is Parkhead/CP now seen as ‘must visit’ ground for fans?”
Definitely. I know 2 guys down here who are season ticket holders at Arsenal. Lawyers both. One a corporate pimp and the other a professional arbitrator.
Both have been fretting for weeks about how fair or unfair might be the allocation of tickets should they draw us.
They express no such concern for away tickets for any other tie.
Pigalle
Agree that Bayern would be scary to play. Having watched a fair bit of Dortmund and Schalke this year I really feel Celtic would have more chance against them say, than the likes of Juventus. Its great to be having this kinda conversation today though isn’t it ? :-)
Marti