Celtic passed the ball well throughout last night’s game. The players were confident enough to take a touch under pressure, which was key to the performance and a step beyond the more rudimentary show in the Camp Nou last season. In this respect, it was a better performance than the win in Moscow, and was an improvement on even the home game against Milan in 2004.
Countless screeds were written about Efe Ambrose after his mistake against Juventus, which seemed to affect the rest of his season, but the Nigerian international looked every inch a Champions League player. His composure and driving runs were crucial in determining Celtic’s effectiveness.
All played well but if we are going to push for highlights the right flank was exceptional. How proud of Adam Matthews were you after his full-speed dribble through the Milan half? At Euro 2012 I remember some respected observers wrote that Mikael Lustig was the weakest link in the Sweden team. If the Spanish international manager watched last night’s performance he would surely lobby for the introduction of national team transfers.
These two were scouted and brought to the club for a combined total of around £1m. Since arriving they have both grown into players who can excel at the San Siro. The clues of what is happening at Celtic are not hard to find.
Charlie Mulgrew has to endure the mantle of ‘utility player’ and in the absence of Joe Ledley and Beram Kayal partnered Scott Brown in central midfield, his fourth best position. Not that there was any sign of this. Brown and Mulgrew’s intelligent movement made possible all that passing and control.
Despite the great performance Milan came away with the points and a great chance to progress. They gave Stokes, Samaras and Commons little opportunity all night. The chances which Samaras, Stokes and Brown had were ultimately all defended well. Stokes free kick which rebounded off the crossbar would have changed the result but it was far from an easy chance.
Going forward we would do well to remember the importance of winning free kicks around the edge of the box. Teemu Pukki looked to have lost possession but used his strength well to win the infringement which resulted in Stokes free kick. Mario Balotelli needed little encouragement to tumble all night and he did so effectively five minutes from time.
Make sure we win free kicks 24 yards out and don’t concede them.
An away defeat against the second seed in the first game is probably a better result than the 0-0 home draw we achieved against Benfica last season, but Milan have an important 3 points in the bag in what looks like an interesting fight for second place.
Celtic are the team who can most improve their chances of qualification on match day 2. Another win against Barcelona at Celtic Park would give us an excellent chance of progressing but the journey up from pot 4 is incredibly difficult.
Is it a worry that we conceded late goals after the players were showing signs of lethargy? Lethargy is a well-documented part of the game, one which is often crucial in determining success in Champions League football and which we can learn to exploit.
1254125 at The Great Scottish Run.
On Sunday 6 October there is a 10k and Half Marathon. If that is beyond you. There are family events taking place the day before. This is your club, remind the world of what really counts and get involved in 1254125.
The first thing you need to do is sign up for the Great Scottish Run, or here for one of the family events.
Once you’ve done that, you can register for the 1254125 campaign here.
Then you can create a donations page here. Click Start Fundraising, search for Celtic Charity, setup your My Donate account).
Email me and let me know if you are having trouble signing up or need any more help, celticquicknews@gmail.com.
To read the new issue of CQN Magazine click here (don’t try to read the graphic below).
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Duntocher_Bhoy
13:09 on
19 September, 2013
Saw replay of incident on Sky last night and it looked like Balotelli throws his arm across Broonie’s face to try to get in front of him, then throws himself to the ground. Cheating, plain and simple.
i cannot get what the writer of this article is saying
it was such a great performance, but we were beaten!!!!!!!!!!
mickbhoy1888
12:47 on 19 September, 2013,
I like the look of the partnership of effe and van dijk.
They seem comfortable playing as a unit.
Time will tell.
Re: CM I see him as a utility player…
I thought Izzy had a great game and was blameless for the goal.
Efe and Big Virgil , Broon and Mulgrew also superb.
I like Lustig more every time I see him play.
We have a great future.
We have a great present
Rangers are dead
Hail Hail
That was a big improvment away in Europe as far as ball retention is concerned. The trouble is we didn’t test their keeper. We need to be setting up shooting opportunities on the edge of the penalty area for the likes of Commons and Mulgrew. You might even get lucky with a poor shot, as Milan did last night.
Even in the SPL we don’t test the opposing goalkeeper nearly enough. This is something we should be working on.
No Bobby Does it Petta
As other posters have said- FF did exceptionally well to keep that out. If you observe him after the save he was diving backwards and sideways so that he could make a forward claw at the ball, otherwise he just reaches it and it goes in or hits off the post.
As Fraser falls, he hurts his back by landing on the side stanchion on the ground. He was very brave as well as skilled in making that save. Although the outcome was the same, it was not the equivalent of Rab Douglas making a save in front of his body and failing to play it round the post. Fraser did not have that angle.
mickbhoy
“What if for example from a corner a keeper parries a ball which immediately goes skywards and he gathers it before it hits the ground”
A good question. Id guess that the difference in your scenario is covered by the rule. If the referee judges that the keeper had to parry it because attempting to catch and control was too risky, it would qualify as a save and be exempt from the rule.
The German ref obviously thought that Abbiati could easily have picked up the tame ball which headed towards him from either Brown or the defender.
Setting free the bears
Ffs, you seem the type of guy if you ask the time you would tell me how to make a watch, lol, I was only stating my opinion, cam doon ffs.
I did some keeper coaching. If you watch his head it is pointing into the goal so he can’t punch it neither can he safely palm it towards the touch line. Basically he did all he could do by basically clawing it out (apart from be one pace over to his left as the freekick is taken I was taught you save shots with your feet in other words your postioning, angles and speed of foot movement across your goal enable you to get to the ball).
If you look out for it watch the keepers head after a goal is scored a lot of the time you will see it pointing inwards to the goal . Also a basic point about angles if you draw a line form the middle of the goal to where the ball is , and you have to pass through the middle of the keeper’s legs to do so the keeper has his angles right.
The way the modern football moves is also a factor.
TBH, I thought that was more bad Sammi last night than good Sammi apart from his run and shot after halftime.
Don’t think FF could have done anything else with the Balotelli free kick, the fact he got a hand on it and pushed it out was miraculous. I would question why Virgil was the only Celtic player to react to the second ball against 4 Milan players?? Probably tired minds by that stage, and had it still been 0-0 they would have been more alert but its those split seconds that’s the difference in CL games.
Jobo…
That would be wonderful!!
west csc
“it was such a great performance, but we were beaten!!!!!!!!!!”
Not really hard to understand if you have watched football for any length of time. Sometime the better team does not win- we have won games where we were outplayed- Barca and Man U in the CL stages, for example.
As for “it was such a great performance”. well, yes it was, by our standards and by where we are as a club.
No one is claiming that it was like watching Brazil in 1970.
tonydonnelly67
11:08 on 19 September, 2013
Micktt
That’s a silly question ffs “what does a sticker coach do” your having a laugh right, ok maybe your not, let me ask you a question, what does a goalkeeping coach do?
Chill oot with the language, I asked the question.
A sticker coach…. does he work for Panninni….!
A striker coach, does he stand the striker in front of goal and tell him to put the ball in the net son. Right good lad, get the ball back… right again… My point is, he’s played football since he was a boy, grown up learned to play, experience…. you can’t coach someone to score goals in my opinion, you can either do it, or you can get fired in goals as a gatekeeper….
Where coaching comes in handy, cause if you were to depend on games being your coaching you’d have a lot of standing about… so coaching is good for a keeper.
Sorry about the sticker bit… couldn’t resist. Think I spelt striker wrong too, initially… maybe I even said sticker too..
; )
HH
Bring on St Johnstone
tonyd
“Ffs, you seem the type of guy if you ask the time you would tell me how to make a watch, lol, I was only stating my opinion, cam doon ffs.”
You stated an opinion. I replied politely. I did not use any sarcastic tone like “aye, ok?” for example.
If you don’t want any replies to your post or you just want to hear from people who agree, you should perhaps add that statement to all your posts.
See we all make mistakes
Gatekeeper…. goalkeeper
If your going to pick someone up on spelling, the chances are, you’ll make a mistake too
Who said that…? He’ll be sleeping..
HH
A delight to watch Celtic lastnight. If you enjoy possession football, we were up there. There were just one or two wayward passes that frustrated. But we will only get better. There was conviction lastnight, the self belief required to be successful at this level. Scott Brown personified that. Efe Ambrose “believed” when he had the ball at his feet. Virgil looks a tower in defence. The final ball was perhaps missing the defeat will provide a platform for more definitive play in the final third. We are worthy of participating at this level. In the past, the teams have never looked as if they entirely believed that. We do and we can beat Milan and Ajax twice. Those 9 points might take us through – it will certainly secure us Europa football. My view of the Barcelona games is that these should be treated as “go and enjoy yourself” games. Anything we take from them will be a bonus.
Separately, my thanks to Bobby Murdoch for referring my plea for assistance. For anyone in the Bristol area who would like to play 11s on 5th October (with the promise of free nosh and booze afterwards) email me – malmcgreg@aol.com – just don’t let Sally McMoist know about the nosh!!!
Sir Paul
(jist in fae the Jiggin’………. Don’t Ask!)
Wonderful Summary,kid..
You Took Awe the Woids oota Ma Mooth!
Noo.. Ah Am Stuck!
Ah wiz, especially, impressed by the Mature Display of Adam.
This Kid.. Has No need tae be”Going Places”
He is ALREADY THERE!
Ah predict.. we wull Hiv a Loata Trouble.. Fending aff the Premier League Wolves.. Slavering.. and Scratching at oor Door.. Fur tae Get thur Paws oan this Youngster.
Ach!.. Whit Kin ye dae? Eh?
Ambrose and Virgil.. make a Great Combo.. Two very Important and Skillful Players.
Ah like Them, Aloater.
And Ah agree wit you .. Inasmuch ,that
Celtic, actually, Were Very Good Last night.. We Wur Not Disgraced..
By No Means.
But, we wur Victimized.
You know me. Ah hate Excuses..
But.. For wance.. Ah wull mak an exception..
We wuz Robbed!
Balotelli? is a Cheatin’ Son of a Lady Dug!
And.. Ten Demerits , Ah wid Haund oot tae Broonie..
Fur , Falling Intae Balotelli’s Trap.
Man o Manoschevitz.. Broonie, has a Loat tae Learn.. Starting by
Stoapping the “Hard Man” Act..and He should Shape up,and Try
Tae “Keep the Heid”.
n if he diz..
Then.. Kojo , promises that He Wull Gladly.. “Buy Him A Bunnet!”
Anywey.. Putting awe Last Night’s Disappointment behind us..
We wull tak The Milanese when they come tae oor Hame Park..
And
Ye kin Tak that tae the Bank!
Kojo
Still, Laughin’
setting free the bears supports celtic’s best fighter- wee oscar knox
13:25 on 19 September, 2013
tonyd
“Ffs, you seem the type of guy if you ask the time you would tell me how to make a watch, lol, I was only stating my opinion, cam doon ffs.”
My thoughts exactly… what does a striker coach do……well here’s my answer.
What does a goalkeeper coach do..?
lol
HH
.
Sammi was Pants Last Night..
Spectator..
Summa
Micktt
Ehhhhhhh, coaches the goalkeepers?
setting free the bears supports celtic’s best fighter- wee oscar knox
13:25 on 19 September, 2013
tonyd
“Ffs, you seem the type of guy if you ask the time you would tell me how to make a watch, lol, I was only stating my opinion, cam doon ffs.”
You stated an opinion. I replied politely. I did not use any sarcastic tone like “aye, ok?” for example.
If you don’t want any replies to your post or you just want to hear from people who agree, you should perhaps add that statement to all your posts.
>>>>>>>>>>.
Miow :-)
Anything we get from barca games will be a bonus but I honestly don’t see us takin anything from those 2 games. I expect us to have 0 points when we welcome ajax to paradise. Take 3 points off them then we can go into away fixture against them with confidence and 3 points on the board.
myboysnowatim
For me, finishing third would be the ideal achievement.
Champions League experience, exposure and money banked.
And a real shot at glory in a European competition thereafter.
Says it for me! More than anything – we need to be looking at improving our co-efficient year-on-year. i.e. Less qualifiers would benefit the team in terms of preparation time; integrating new faces and a lengthier pre-season.
We are in a fortunate position that Thursday/ Sunday fixtures wouldn’t affect us, unlike EPL and other European League teams – we have more than sufficient playing resources to deal with domestic games.
Getting to the CL Last 16 is a victory of sorts but doesn’t necessarily give us benefit in terms of offensive experience – we have been under the cosh in these past games and are likely to fair similarly in the immediate future.
Finishing 3rd and getting frequent runs to quarter-final stages against teams, that are conceivably less difficult European opponents, might just allow our young team (and projects) to develop a more experienced (battle-hardened) attitude when faced by the so-called big European teams.
Me – I would happily settle for another ‘Seville’ – albeit with a winning result this time!
Mmm – on the whole I thought we played well.
However – we had no cutting edge and wasted too many opportunities.
And Adam played kinda well but he wasted too many crossing opportunities too.
I dont know how to feel after last night – frustrated probably best sums it up!
Sipsini
Ewwwwwwww touchyyyyyyyy eh, a just said aye ok, what’s wrong wi that?
sipsini
I am holding Castlemilk bhoys like tonyd to a higher standard.
I don’t expect them to get flustered because someone disagreed with them on a blog.
Anyway, time for something to eat.
Laters.
Setting free the bears
Aye right
tonyd
“a just said aye ok, what’s wrong wi that?”
There’s actually nothing much wrong with it. I let it go and did not comment because I was calm and controlled.
But when you tried that line about the watch, I think it was being turned back on you because you jumped from your original argument to another unrelated point.
Anyway, it’s no biggie on my side, so I am away for my lunch
I asked earlier about the Brown/Ballotelli incident.
Watched the game on Irish TV.
There was no replay.
Got a reply from Robinbhoy that it was deffo a foul.
Now there are a few posters saying no foul.
Well what was it and are there any pictures
Nerve wracking as they are – the qualifiers set us up very well for the Group stages.
tonydonnelly67
13:33 on 19 September, 2013
Micktt
Ehhhhhhh, coaches the goalkeepers?
To late with that one, I answered it previously.
Late Tonyd67
HH
Any way the Oases beckons, c ya.
Neganon
Hiya, Pally?
Nice tae Greet ye..
Adam, as you say Played well..
His Crosses wur no Much good.. Ah Agree..
But..
He is still Larnin’ his Craft.
Howevahhhh..
He has Goat awe o the Ither Essentials doon Pat..
His Crosses wull Improve.. and when they dae..
Like Ah say..
We wull Hiv tae pit a Twenty Four Guard Oan Him. tae Keep the “Wolves” ;At Bay!
As ye probably gathered..
Kojo, Luvs this Kid.
Kojo
Still Laughin’
Late Tonyd67
micktt
13:22 on 19 September, 2013
tonydonnelly67
HH
tonydonnelly67
13:38 on 19 September, 2013
Sipsini
Ewwwwwwww touchyyyyyyyy eh, a just said aye ok, what’s wrong wi that?
>>>>>>>>>>
Just banter mate to you both.
We all feel down about the result, hoping we repeat last years, this time I’ll be there.HH
clink\o/
12:00 on 19 September, 2013
TTT at 11.30
Those commentators on RTE were dreadful.
How many times last night did they get the players names wrong and as for that eejit Haughton. All he did was slag off Sammi. It didnt matter if Sammi was involved in the move or not.
Anything positive was totally ignored.
Your bhoy has something to do with TV3 I believe.
Are they showing any tic matches.
Hope they dont employ Ray Haughton or do we have that other ray of sunshine Brian Kerr
*****
TV3 had the ManU game on Tuesday, but will be doing our game v Barca on Tuesday week.
My boy does the studio anchor man.
They had Lawrenson and Kerr in the studio and Kevin Kilbane at the game last Tuesday.
Actually, I think that Brian Kerr is a good analyst. He knows his facts and has a good knowledge and understanding of the game.
I didn’t always think that, but once I got used to his heavy Dublin accent, I understood what he was getting at!! : > )