Outrageous results, and a 4-5 win is an outrageous result, could be seen as reason for encouragement by future opponents, but Barcelona played the majority of the game against Deportivo with 10 men, scored an own goal, conceded from a penalty and their keeper made a mistake for another, yet they still scored five goals and won the game.
That is formidable form.
On Tuesday evening Celtic face one of the greatest teams in history but there is reason for confidence. We have been to the Camp Nou three times in the last decade, a 0-0 draw in 2004 was enough to eliminate the Catalans from Europe. Later in 2004 we recorded our only away point in the Champions League, prior to beating Spartak Moscow in the last game, and we lost there to a single goal four years later.
Each Barcelona side was vastly more talented but they found each Celtic team a handful.
Any team which takes a point or more from Barca this season will have to man the barricades for long stretches of each game, will have to show enormous concentration and discipline, and take whatever luck is going. If Celtic do this, they will have one inherent advantage over the home team on Tuesday.
There will be changes in the starting 11 for both teams but a cursory look at yesterday’s starting line ups is educational. Eight out of Barca’s 10 outfield players were under six foot, six of them (Jordi Alba, Iniesta, Mascherano, Messi, Montoya and Villa) three or four inches below. Celtic’s smallest player, Gary Hooper, is only two inches below.
Seven Celts were six foot or higher. Ambrose, Wilson and Mulgrew are all 6’3”, taller than anyone in the Barca team, while non-starters, Lustig and Samaras, are 6’3” and 6’4” respectively. Celtic’s outfield players were, on average, more than three inches taller than their Barcelona counterparts.
Even the Barcelona keeper, Valdes, at 6’0”, is a bit on the short side, seven inches below Fraser Forster.
Height doesn’t make you a better player, or collectively, a better team, but it does instil an enormous advantage at set pieces. Celtic must defend when necessary but any free kick inside the Barcelona half is an opportunity to drop a ball onto an elevated Celtic head inside the box.
Play to your strengths, Celtic. Keep strategy simple, and your probability of taking something on Tuesday will increase significantly. You have everything to play for.
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GooooooooooooooooooooOoooooooooooooooooooooD
Morning……………………………………………………………….
C……………………………………
……………………Q………………
N……………………………………
It’s a fantastic day in the Costa…………………………………………..BLANCA.
BigJoeInDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAblog
Oldest son heading back to the Deen today. Check
Youngest son heading back the Embra today. Check
Check in online for tomorrow’s flight up to Barcelona. Check
Hip flask filled with Cardinal Mendoza Brandy for the game tomorrow night. Check
Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
BigJoegettingALLnervous
Bigjoe
With all that brandy in you i doubt you will be nervous
Are you meeting up with the cqners
Joe McHugh @videocelts
Would the next 48 hours be a good time to leak out damaging but expected bad financial news?
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BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS
08:08 on
22 October, 2012
Hello BMCUP hope you are well after your visit home
Pleasure to meet you with all those fine CQN folk, Scotlands best
As to your point ref Scotlands shame
It does indeed seem bizarre to shout out with a public megaphone the evil which lies within that support at the same time as asking for investment, i suppose wearing an orange strip means your forgiven
Take care bud
GoosyGoosy post from last night a must read
HH
The Boy Jinky
08:55 on 22 October, 2012
Bigjoe
With all that brandy in you i doubt you will be nervous
Are you meeting up with the cqners
Dunno ……………………………………
Mrs BigJoe got me the tickets as a surprise birthday thing at the weekend, so I haven’t had the chance to make any plans…………. YET.
+ both boys back for a long weekend, didn’t help.
I heard that BT BLANTYRE TIM and OLDTIM are over, so might check the police stations and the hospitals first :-}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}
BigJoeWONTbeinBarcaTILLlunchTIMEtheMORRA
Good luck to all the Bhoys Going to Barca.
My elder brother just messaged me there, he is getting the train down at 1030 this morning from the Costa Brava to pick up a few tickets for the a few of the Barrow Bhoys who are arriving this afternoon along with my other brother.
I did’nt want to go to Barca again, having great memories from 2004 watching the game from a private barca box with all the complimentary drinks.
Wrong , I should be there, if your lurking, have a great time Ronnie and William.
Does’nt seem just over a year ago that we were in Las Ramblas en route to Madrid.
Hail Hail
LIONROARS67
Too many people outing themselves for their evening on the 6th,ruining my devious plan to drop them in it one by one!
It was a great night,every minute of it. Thanks to such as yourself for being there,but no thanks to the driver of the blue taxi-I know,there was a clue there-who dropped us at the wrong pub.
When I say us,I include The Barca Mole. Another fine gentleman,who was so busy trying to pay the cab/get the beer in before I could,that we forgot to check the name of the bar we were about to enter!
Shouldnae be allowed out,really-and my Mum,bless her,did her best to make sure that I wasn’t for the next fortnight,haha!
Morning bhoys
We have drunk the bar dry
Hoops there is no bar o)
Bigjoe
I was in glasgow with oldtim on saturday night …. He and BT arrived safe yesterday and are there until wednesday night i think
Bt has his phone on so will be checking cqn as long as his eyes are in focus
Bt
Speak of the devil ….. ;)
Was asleep when you text last night ….. Is ot ok
Morning all
This will be a fine week :-)
BigJoeWONTbeinBarcaTILLlunchTIMEtheMORRA
I was going to go but couldn´t get a ticket Joe.Where abouts are you on the CB ?
I´m in La Marina so will be watching the game in the pub with our auld Tims Club.
Have a great time.
I was up there in May for the Bruce Springsteen concert.
Great place.
Hail hail.
AWE NAW 0901
PAULSATIM 2300 posted it on here-just to save anyone the effort of looking it up.
You’re right-it’s a belter of a post,and if true (I have no reason to doubt it),it explains a lot about D&P,and about CW crawling from under his stone recently.
bazzabhoy
07:54 on
22 October, 2012
____________________________
Witton Arms 2 mins from Villa Park.
First post but been lurking for a year.
HH to all
LIONROARS67 0858
I was gonna get my hun mate an orange top for his Christmas when I was back-the Barca away one.
But it seems they don’t make them big enough for the fat b…..d.
Back to Black’s for his gear then….
ProfQ – welcome.
PROFQ 0915
Bit controversial for a first post,if I may say so.
WELCOME ABOARD!!!!!!!!!
To all CQNers in Barcelona have a great time I was there in 2004 when we put then out the UEFA cup fantastic night. Enjoy yourself it’s a great city and fantastic club Hail Hail
Sitting at breakie junky
Doing well to keep him off the drink so far
We will do. A wee tour of barca today
• timbhoy in spain
09:12 on 22 October, 2012
BigJoeWONTbeinBarcaTILLlunchTIMEtheMORRA
I was going to go but couldn´t get a ticket Joe.Where abouts are you on the CB ?
I´m in La Marina so will be watching the game in the pub with our auld Tims Club.
Have a great time.
I was up there in May for the Bruce Springsteen concert.
Great place.
Hail hail.
I am in Ohruela Costa……………………………………..
Watch the games in Paddys Point or the hooooose.
BigJoetakingTHEboys2theAIRPORT
Who is junky?
Bt
I know i.often call you a boozebag …. But no need to let the cat out the bag on my caffeine addiction ;)
Barcelona weather today is like the Glasgow Fair: dull, wet and dismal.
Still the players will feel at home.
What follows are the fevered thoughts of a Celtic fan as he stays up far too late, attempting to envisage a way for his team to achieve a sensational win at Camp Nou.
HOW TO BEAT BARCA
Before I start, an obvious point – never let Messi out of our sight, for the love of Christ!
OK, now on to other, slightly less terrifying matters…
Concentration
Barcelona average roughly 70% possession. Make no mistake, we will be spending a lot of time watching them pass it around. Our players must concentrate just as much off the ball as on it.
Break up their rhythm
Barca have their famous ‘five-second rule’: if they lose possession, they immediately press the opposition to regain the ball. If they don’t get it back within 5 seconds, they defend in depth and wait for their chance. The moment they see a weakness – a misplaced pass, an opponent dwelling on the ball, or scanning around due to lack of options, they will try again to win back possession.
That is why Samaras is essential. His ability to keep hold of the ball will disrupt Barca’s rhythm.
At the same time, Celtic’s front players – and perhaps one midfielder – MUST do everything they can to press the GK and back four, denying them the chance to pass the ball out of defence. Once it gets to the ‘carousel’ (copyright Sir Furious) it’s hands clasped in prayer time. We cannot afford to sit back (one of the reasons why a flat 4-5-1 midfield fills me with foreboding). Celtic have a physically superior side, so if we can force them to punt it, we have a better chance.
Their weakness is their centre back area. Pressure them and we will hurt them.
How to deal (och, ok, legally) with Messi.
Man-marking.
Some CQNers have mentioned tasking someone with marking Messi. The problem with this, of course, is that he will make runs, draw his marker away from play, allowing Xavi and co extra space. Most foolish, grasshoppa!
Zonal marking is the best solution. Celtic players cover their own areas, passing him on to a teammate when he leaves their zone. Hence why concentration is SO important.
Run a lot (Taken from ‘Advanced Book of Tactics’ – ‘The Modern Game’)
The teams who have been successful against Barcelona at Camp Nou, Chelsea, Inter Milan, and Real Madrid, have all been tough, physical, direct teams. We need willing runners like Brown, Ledley, and our fleet-footed Greek God, who can latch onto long passes in order to force Barca’s back four to retreat towards their penalty area.
This will stretch the play and stop them concentrating their players in compact areas of the pitch. Tiki taka is a lot more difficult when you’re 30 yards away from your teammates.
100 mph START
Celtic got off to a flyer in the Helsingborg game, and scored in the first half against Spartak, yet another way in which Neil Lennon’s teams are changing the record from previous occasions where the sloppy early goal usually ended up in our net.
It will take Barcelona time to get their rhythm going, particularly as their midfield conductor, Busquets, is suspended, so they will be at their most vulnerable at the beginning of each half. Celtic have worked hard on their set-pieces, and it’s already been mentioned that Barca players lack height. Most of our players are over 6 feet. This is a clear advantage. Use it.
I see the thug who has been arrested for the attack on Chris Kirkland is a member of the Blue Order.
SSN………………………..
Saying Big Effy forgot his passport………………………
Somebody away 2 get it……………………..
Plane taking off in 25mins………………….
BigJoecannyBeleveIT
Off out for a walk
Nearest pub 100 yards away
BT
If you can check out Casa Batlo about 3rd mile north of Plaza Catalonia.
If its still on offer do the lower half tour. Takes about an hour but jaw droppingly awesome.
The Pantaloon Duck
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS
Bit controversial for a first post,if I may say so.
Cheers. I thought about it for a while and wanted to get it just right. I didn’t want to upset the folk this early – plenty of time for that later :-)
How to beat Barce? If I knew that I would be paid millions a year to manage a football team.
We are under no pressure on Tuesday. We are expected to be heavily beaten and anything better than that is a good result frankly. They will have lots of possession and make chances as they always do. Fraser Forster will see plenty action and will need to be on top form (See Marshall D.)
We will make a chance or two ourselves though if we can keep the ball when we see it. And we are capable of scoring ourselves. I have a feeling there will be a fair few goals in this game.
Big Joe
Big Effy forgot his passport
So he’ll arrive at an unscheduled time. You see? We’re disrupting their rhythm already.
Efe will need to summersault home and pick up his passport.
Above all, are you reading Victor? we must NOT pick up stupid yellow cards early in the game.
up_over_goal
09:47 on 22 October, 2012
Big Joe
Big Effy forgot his passport
So he’ll arrive at an unscheduled time. You see? We’re disrupting their rhythm already.
I like your thinking bud…………………………
BigJoeofffffffoooooooooooooot
Efe Will be ok …. He would jump through hoops to play at the nou camp :)