Celtic in decent European group draw shocker! There is a lot to like about this season’s Champions League group stage draw. Celtic fans don’t get to see our team tested against the reigning European champions often. We knew we were going to face an almost impossible task against one opponent, so bring on the champions!
Real put seven goals past Shakhtar Donetsk over two games in last season’s group stage. More on the Ukrainian champions later. The Spanish champions also beat Inter home and away, although shared away wins with Sheriff. 15 points in the group stage is impressive, but it wasn’t until they reached the knockout rounds that their season took off.
You know the legendary story………. First they eliminated French champions PSG, then reigning European champions, Chelsea, before beating English champions, Manchester City. Despite this, they were second favourites in the final, but Liverpool went the way of the rest. There has never been a more difficult run to a successful European Cup.
Leipzig finished third behind Celtic and Salzburg in the Europa League group stage four years ago. Conceding a classic late goal to Rosenborg allowed Celtic to secure second spot, despite losing at home on the night to Salzburg.
Our German opponents finished fourth in the Bundesliga last season, behind Leverkusen. We should have taken something from the game away at Leverkusen but were somewhat humiliated by them in Glasgow. In last season’s group stage, Leipzig beat Manchester City, took a point off PSG and thumped Brugge 0-5 away. They beat Real Sociedad in their first Europa League knockout round, dumped Atalanta in the next, but ran out of road at Ibrox in the semi-final.
Newco made Leipzig look ordinary in that game – so there is some hope, but I am reluctant to read too much into that. We will need to be at our most effective best in both games.
Ukrainian league football resumed on Tuesday for the first time since the Russian invasion in February. Games will be played behind closed doors at a number of venues in the west of the country. Shakhtar Donetsk drew their fixture 0-0. They will play their Champions League home games in Poland. Fiorentina, Benfica, Lazio, Lille, Salzburg, Bordeaux and Fulham all took players from Shakhtar this summer, hollowing out their squad.
What of other Ukrainian sides this season? In CL qualifying, Dinamo Kyiv overcame Fenerbace and Sturm Graz before losing 5-0 on aggregate to Benfica. Fenerbace are no mugs and reached the Europa group stage courtesy of a 6-1 aggregate win over Austrian Vienna. Other Ukrainian sides lost out to Cypriot, Swedish and Romanian opposition. Unsurprisingly
What we have in this draw is an opportunity to test the value we have in our squad and manager. We drew Leipzig, when Liverpool, Barcelona, Atletico, Chelsea and Juventus were in the same pot! We drew Shakhtar instead of Inter, Dortmund, Leverkusen or Benfica.
In short, if we are the team some of us hope we are, we will compete for second place. If we achieve that, we will have earned close to an additional €20m between prize and progression payments, on top of the circa €35m from getting to this stage and ticket sales.
Welcome back to the big time!
Oh, and welcome to Celtic, Sead Haksabanovic. More on you soon.
577 Comments- Pages:
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- ...
- 16
- »
Afternoon all
P67 — In every silver lining you don’t half look for a cloud.
That’s my bro just off phone , tickets in for Celtic the musical at the SEC Armadillo on sat 24 September.
Hoping to bump into some old faces.
MagicCSC
Afternoon to you too
It’s a helluva draw, no doubt. Let’s make the most of it.
Pingback: Chance Of €20m Bonus After CL Draw - Celtic News
P67 — it all comes down to the attitude we take onto the park.
If we are afflicted by the Scottish / SPL cringe then every game will be tough no matter the opposition.
RM are not Barca in their prime / pomp.
They will be tough opponents but we can give it a go.
They are carrying some old legs so some high tempo stuff will stretch them.
Good luck to Neil Francis Lennon and his new team in the Europa draw today.
AS good a draw as we could have hoped for. It’s great to be playing in the most elite football competition in the world.
P67 — great that you have found the financial benefits of doing well on the park and being the best that we can be.
Just a case of what might have been if PL was more engaged about the football rather than his bonus and that he had any talent above being a second rate property bean counter who is happy to carry a rich man’s bags..
No matter — onwards and upwards / in AP we trust.
A good draw, both as a sporting challenge and as a spectator event.
Worth noting that Celtic’s earnings from this year’s UCL will be ~€5million lighter after Newco’s qualification.
Worth also noting that Newco’s player transfer strategy is very impressive. Compared with Lenny’s last stint at Celtic, they are miles ahead in terms of talent and bang for buck. That hasn’t happened by accident.
Let’s trust that Celtic under Ange have upped the game big time. It’s certainly necessary.
I’ll be glad with 1 win and a draw to be honest. Sorry to be pessimistic but we are up against phenomenal amounts of money/debt/clubs run unsustainably. That being said, the spine of the team and the ethos of the team hopefully means we won’t have celtic-euro-panic time and howlers.
McPhail Bhoy,
Thanks for the reply in last article.
Cheers and HH.
Confirmed fixtures…
Leipzig (H)- 7th September
Shakhtar (A) – 13th September
Real Madrid (A) – 5th October
Real Madrid (H) – 11th October
Leipzig (A) – 26th October
Shkhtar (H) – 1st November
MADMITCH on 26TH AUGUST 2022 12:17 PM
P67 — In every silver lining you don’t half look for a cloud.
============================
I am going to frame this – many thanks, made me lol
Leipzig (H)- 7th September
Shakhtar (A) – 13th September
Real Madrid (A) – 5th October
Real Madrid (H) – 11th October
Leipzig (A) – 26th October
Shkhtar (H) – 1st November
Jackiemac,
Finance is not the only criteria. The huns have demonstrated that and we are better than them.
Join our Happy place.
HH.
Paul67 et al
I refrained from posting prior to the new article, but had I done so it would have been to bet good money that Paul67 would headline with a $ sign. And so it has come to pass. Wrong only about the sign. It is not only now that we should appreciate what Ange has brought to Celtic FC, it is especially now. Not only one of only a dozen or so European clubs outside the cartel in the group stages of the Champions League, but, now in the company of the current and greatest European Champions Real Madrid. And also with an outside chance of progressing to the last sixteen of the tournament, if we could return to the days of fortress Celtica at Parkhead. Not to mention the chance to help cement our position in European football before the new format in 2024. If Ange still believes we can further strengthen before we kick off in the CL then that is exactly what we should strive to do. In Ange we trust.
A settled squad with a happy great coach and a team in form heading into a group that will test our progress with an opportunity to do well
Happy Days. What a difference to a year ago
ok GP , jeez – it’s probably self defence after mega money/debt took over the CL and we got gubbed. (By the way, the awarding of cards in games involving newco in their first europa league run did not match the awarding of cards of others who progressed past the group stages).
Yeah, I am now happy 😁
Shakhtar at home last game could be huge
If the incentive is there, will the board help Ange in the last few days get a couple more key signings?
Good draw, great break on the way the ties are made up, with the free hit in the middle with Real.
HH
In Sept 2017, Brendan Rodgers sent the following team out against PSG.
Come Sept 2022, do you think we are better off, worse off or about the same in terms of being ready for CL football?
01 Gordon
56 Ralston
23 Lustig
05 Simunovic
63 Tierney
07 Roberts
21 Ntcham
08 Brown
14 Armstrong
11 Sinclair
09 Griffiths
06 Bitton
18 Rogic
22 Edouard
24 de Vries
35 Ajer
42 McGregor
49 Forrest
Just my bad luck – Real at home when I am away.
Maybe I should run a competition with my ticket as the prize for free if not one multi-moniker or troll posts on CQN between now and the game?
TBB @ 12.30
Interested to hear your thoughts on the value that TFOD2.1 are looking for and finding?
I think that they have a very basic model — sticking journeymen into the gym and feeding them body building supplements.
Plus keeping RJ out of the team will always help.
They seem to have worked the loan route well — two US NT hopefuls would seem to have something.
I think that their main strength — apart from SPL referees — is a resilient MF set up plus a good work rate on the wings. They are still weak at the back plus the FB’s have struggled when pushed back.
The big issue going forward is what level of spend will they have in the last week of the transfer window — the big name loan angle was a disaster last season so they might calm their jets and play the long game.
Soon all will be revealed.
Might be fake dates🤦🏻♂️
Hold yer markers….
Jackiemac,
I’m glad you are now in the fastest growing clique on CQN.. 😀
But you are right. The huns carry some luck. Even now Man Utd is bidding crazy money for Ajax winger Antony.
HH.
Complete punt, but god loves a trier so here goes…
If anyone knows of a STH (adult + 1 child) that cannot afford the 3 match package please ask them to email me (blog name @ gmail.com) if they would be willing to let me pay for their adult and child package in exchange for the adult and child tickets for ONE of the three matches.
QB
Great group for us,but the fixtures,IMO,do nothing to help.Makes the 1st game against Leipzig near enough a must win.
They have started their season poorly,so let’s have a real go at them.
On the other hand,win and then win away,very possible,then we are off and running.
DENIABHOY on 26TH AUGUST 2022 12:52 PM
PSG were the best team I have ever seen at Parkhead.
However they have never won ” big ears ” despite the money they have got.
HH.
3 Always out of 4 is a tough ask.
DB @ 12.52
OMG — that team would curdle milk.
Only ON and KT would be welcome for AP2.
ScS was rapidly coming to the end of his traditional 17 month purple patch.
Plus AR was still looking like an egg chaser who had turned up in the wrong dressing room.
19th Century Celtic fans could have given up on Celtic when they indulged in “underhand” approaches to players at Renton, Hibs and elsewhere.
Or when John Glass’s professional approach trumped Brother Walfrid’s vision for a largely charitable vehicle.
The fans during the depression from mid 20’s to mid 30’s could have rebelled against a decade long return of 3 Scottish cups.
The post WW2 generation could have given up with a return from 1947 to 1965 of 1 league title, 2 Scottish Cups and 2 League Cups, and a threatened first ever relegation.
The fans in the 90’s had to see their 9iar, and a return between 1988 and 1998 of 1 league title, 2 SCs and 1 LC.
What have the Celtic fans of the noughties had to cope with?
A demonstration by almost all officialdom in Scottish Society and Football to let the Continuity Myth survive and thrive and a craven cowardice by our Board in dealing with the various issues arrive, resulting in them telling blatant lies to their own support.
Given the nature of Fergus’s revolution in the 90’s, in response to our terrible situation then, this left all Celtic fans in the 21st Century facing the dilemma of either:-
1) Walking away until the caravan crew voluntarily relinquished their presence on the Board.
Advantages:- our villains get ousted and we feel temporarily better about ourselves.
Disadvantages-
Our villains would still have been rewarded for going, as were the Old Board during the Fergus revolution-
They would have been replaced by other Board members who would still be following the instructions of our major shareholder-
We would have relinquished any sporting advantage we had over the new Ibrox club and ended up on a fairly even footing with them.
The rest of Scottish society would have portrayed this as a sectarian response.
or
2) Stayed with the players and coaches, who were fairly innocent in our dispute, and enjoyed the sporting success, albeit against a background of diminishing European relevance (nowhere near as poor as we endured in the 80’s and 90’s mind) whilst feeling a sense of shame that our custodians had, yet again let us down.
Please note, I am not claiming that each of our generations had an equivalent moral dilemma to face – feel free to rank them how you will- but why all faced a question as to whether to continue supporting in person, financially or not at all.
In evaluating how happy each group is with their decision, I am failing to detect any joy in the submissions of those who claim to have resolved their cognitive dissonance on these issues. For many, I don’t think they have truly walked away from an unacceptable situation.
They have merely walked to the door exit saying, “I am going- why aren’t you coming with me?”
Ange now on Sky News
Some bumf today about a host of teams looking to sign O Riley.20 million being quoted.
Would any of those advocating for this strong defensive midfielder,that Ange does not want,swap O Riley for one.
If not,who would you drop to accommodate this mythical midfielder,you want.How much should we pay.
“The way to make the CL meaningful is to make an impact”
AP
Big Wavy,
Do you not think the last fixture with Real v Leipzig,could be a dodgy one,if Madrid have already won the group?.
We have 3 always out of 4 games.
“Maybe 1 more in…..”
– Big Ange, Sky Sport
HH