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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MickTT…evening; another off day or quiet night??
tallybhoy
18:25 on 19 September, 2013
The attendance last night was just under 55,000 in a stadium whose capacity is about 85,000, ‘tho,I believe, for CL games is reduced to just under 80,000.
Only 1500 to 2000 Celtic fans in last night, good travelling support but only half of what travelled last time. Surprisingly quite a few Italians in the away end, all with Celtic colours.
If they are really desperate for somewhere to play the Ramsden’s final I’d maybe allow them to use Barrowfield.
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
Hmmmm really ??? I thought at this stage last season we were sitting joint second in our group with 1 point
Blantaaaaaaaaarr Tim
Reporting for duty me ole captain
lick = kick
AC Milan know they got out of jail last night.
Anyone listening to these attention seeking clowns to SSB ? FFS a zombie would be hard pushed to delve to theses depths to have a go at Celtic players. Fraser Foster, Samaras, Lennie’s tactics and our captain.
Thing is you can actually hear this type of nonsense at Celtic Park every match. It sickens me.
Is this the trailer for sevcos game :))
http://www.flashfooty.com/igre/graveyard-penalty-cup/index.php?game=graveyardcup&screen=scores
Malc (21:27 last night), re: my PC performance stats…
Ping = 25ms
Up = 6.57Mbps
Down = 3.79Mbps
I may have got the up & down figures back to front.
I just ran the same test (without SkyGo running in the background) and got the following results:
Ping = 25ms
Up = 15.86Mbps
Down = 59.93Mbps
…5-10 times better than last night’s figures!
rwe :-)
Let them play the Pawnbrokers Cup in Kazakhstan as they can abuse as many goats as they want!
You want to keep yer blood pressure down then don’t listen to the Sevco cheerleaders @ClydeSSB
BIG-CUP-WINNERS
just as the 2 mins extra time started in the 1st half of Karagandy game ,the cracker behind us shouted ” playing like this ****we could play 2 hours extra time and not score tonight”
Just as the ball left Kris Commons boot:)))
even when he came back fae the toilet he still got reminded of his statement
leftclicktic oscar in our thoughts
16:44 on 19 September, 2013
hen1rik
:))
I bow to your skills sir :))
Right back at ya HH
desertbhoy
18:42 on 19 September, 2013
MickTT…evening; another off day or quiet night??
Day off, back Saturday, must say the other morning made my day, the thought of you in tears laughing at the banter, still laughing at the thought.
HH
Have you ever heard a bigger balloon than Laurie on SSB
big-cup-winners
18:49 on 19 September, 2013
Not listening personally but it seems they have succeeded in attracting your attention
You may want to consult with your doctor regarding your sickness before you return to Celtic Park because there are always going to be fellow supporters that have opinions views and political leanings that differ from yours
Churchill is some snorer
HH
Right half time over, back oot the car and into the wind, boys football…
HH
MickTT…always in favour of something to lighten up the daily drudge…
Valencia fans walking out.
Where is C1st when we need Spanish correspondence
So the question remains, was this one of our best away days or worst? Certainly a frustrating one.
Have we had a game with more of the ball chances/half chances and converted nothing?
Countless times I moved to the edge of my seat thinking ‘this is it’ only to be left dismayed.
Only the Samaras shot seemed to be the right choice of move. Wish we would take more of a gamble sometimes rather than just holding on to the ball.
I guess this is just something you learn along the way.
On a positive the tough qualification pot 4 route must be great learning curve for are young team.
When you think about it we are actually gaining more ‘real’ European experience than the so called big teams.
Man Utd for example. No qualification. Never a ‘group of death’. Never pressure of making every point, shot, pass or decision count because Messi and Neymar are waiting in the next game.
Coefficients and seedings have skewed the fortunes of those already most likely to progress. But they will never experience what we have. When the odds are stacked against you. We do it the hard way but I guess that is the Celtic way.
Onwards and onwards.
So who have we got in match day 2?
Valencia fans return in time for Swansea goal..
Ironic….
mickbhoy1888
19:04
You are right, there are all different hues of Celtic supporter. Laurie from Dennistoun is one type, then there’s the negative clown version who rubbish the club at every opportunity.
The ones I really differ from though, are the low life scumbag-types who would cheat and steal from fellow Celtic supporters and then somehow take pleasure in retelling their base story, like some badge of honour.
AC got out of jail based on core fitness; nothing more IMO.
Last 20 our Bhoys were blowing, they were not. Nothing to do with how the teams were set up or tactics. We quite simply ran out of gas and lacked fresh legs to to our shape and grip on the game from the 65 minute mark. We did VERY well and will continue to learn and progress.
Crackin’ FK for Swansea by the way. 3 – 0 . Well done to them.
HH
Gerry
Salzburg 2 – 0 Elfsborg Latest
and Kakagandy 20:05 ko
to maintain our shape that should have read.
Legia have a hard trip away to Lazio..
I see on the official UEFA site that the first goal is attributed to an Izzy og
El Madrigal… as I posted, i think, on numerous occassions last night when the alcohol started to take over…..
Confucius say.. have shot at goal.. have chance to score goal… even by deflection!!
…was drowning the sorrows and killing the pain of an oh so nearly….
can’t fault the endeavour… onwards and upwards!!
KTF
The Italians are super fit professionals.
Watching them this summer in Brazil showed this..
What could PL, the scouts, NFL, Celtic Park, Celtic fans, the nature of the Celtic fan base do with a decent TV revenue ? The sky’s the limit. Where would Walfrid have us, though ? My inkling is he’d want us in Scotland.
blantyretim is praying for the Knox family
19:29 on 19 September, 2013
The Italians are super fit professionals.
Watching them this summer in Brazil showed this.—————–
Yes you are quite right. Germans also. We need to look and learn.
I think what gets lost a lot,is the amount of different levels we step up to the CL ,from the Spl dross.Remarkable when you think about it.
BT-You’re right,conditioning and fitness can always be improved on.
!!Bada Bing!!
Absolutely, when you consider the league we play in but fitness is an issue nevertheless.
HH
Gerry
blantyretim is praying for the Knox family
19:29 on 19 September, 2013
The Italians are super fit professionals.
……………………………………………………………….
yes, probably too much of the fish supper consumption prevalent here …
was reading the Johnny Madden story yesterday… are there any smokers in the team??
Gerrybhoy
I think it has a lot to do with whole lifestyle professionalism.
No a slur on our players just an observation. I know we have come on leaps and bounds since the drinking culture but we still need to improve.
I thought Jim McGuinness was going to introduce a new fitness regime for us ?
Although we wont come up against super fit teams often in Scotland and I dont think we are that bad, when you are in with the best it is an essential part of the game.