I watched Real Madrid outplayed by Chelsea for most of last night. The visitors performed exceptionally well to take a three goal lead and could have put the game out of sight before Real got a foothold in the game.
Chelsea won twice in Spain in last season’s Champions League, scoring five without reply at Sevilla and Atletico, before taking a draw at Real in the semi-final, they know how to compete in this competition. No team, however, knows more about winning in the Champions League than Real Madrid.
Real win this tournament when they are well below par domestically, they find an assured calmness to their play, even when, as last night, they were 0-3 down and the obits were being written about coach Carlo Ancelotti. This is all down to corporate memory. More than any team in football, they know how to perform under intense pressure on the big stage.
You have witnessed this on a smaller scale in Scotland. Celtic’s 36 game unbeaten run in domestic cup competitions, from 2016 to 2020, defined credulity. Form varied during that run, the only consistent was outcome. Celtic won so many knockout games, they knew most of the pitfalls and prepared thoroughly.
If anything, form at semi-finals and finals is even more impressive. Celtic are on a run of 18 successive wins on these Hampden occasions, without once going to extra time. Others must reach the National Stadium and start work on blocking out so many bad memories. When you go up against Real Madrid in the Champions League, or Celtic in the Scottish or League Cup, you have a chance, but whatever you have in your locker, you cannot match the winning attributes of persistent champions.
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“Brainwashed much?”
Answer to an earlier discussion about Europa League winners.
Taken from the Sun (Apologies)
“The winners of the Europa League claim an automatic group stage spot in the Champions League.
But that spot would come at the expense of the third-placed finisher in the fifth league, currently France, and not the champions of Scotland.”
FOURSTONECOPPI
Y.N.W.A.
Pat Reilley R.I.P.
Hello again all you young rebels.
FOURSTONECOPPI
That was a beautiful wee tribute to your uncle Pat, it brought back
so many memories to me of days gone by, of family and friends gathered
together at Celtic park cheering on the bhoys.
Same as your uncle most are gone now, but just like Paddy Reilly never
forgotten.
H.H. Mick
I think its the coaches fault and Saint Ninians glee club.
Watching the B Team last night ,Quite embarrassing to watch,The defence absolutely a shambles if it wasn’t for our goalie the young sevcos would have won 4/0,Someone mentioning 2 poor teams na there was only one ,there young midfielder Macausland a very good player.
EXPAT_CELT on 13TH APRIL 2022 2:03 PM
CANAMALAR IT LOOKS LIKE OCD OBSESSION on 13TH APRIL 2022 1:47 PM
Did you see the swastika on the wall of the recent BBC interview of the Ukrainian politician?
———————————————————————————————————————————
Do you have a link to the interview? I don’t get the BBC in this part of the world.
Where are you,Russia.
Canamalar,
See you are back on again.Not going to bother trying to educate you.You are a gullible fool.
Yeti @ 2.45
Interesting that you blame the academy set up– S N ‘s glee club vibe and the poor quality of the coaches — for our poor youth and B team performances.
I have had similar thoughts myself on this important topic.
Great minds …
Paul67
Watched Celtic B verse Sevco B last night and was fair disappointed on the team performance despite a great turn out form the Celtic support. It seems the lower division league remains miles behind the full time league, and its no surprise players like Dembele are rarely seen, in the big squad. Celtic B look under coached and nervous at Parkhead despite being six points ahead of Sevco, at the k.o. a higher level of reserve team football is badly needed to bridge the gap to the first team. The lack of investment caused by channelling 95% of all of the revenue into a big first team squad helps create a cavernous gap for a young Celtic player trying to make the grade.
Celtic would be better served developing players in a full blown reserve league where players used to regain ‘match fitness’ and young reserves learned from senior players, we also need an AP 2 total professional and a new wage structure that prevents poachers picking off the promising talent that is undoubtedly there, but unlikely to develop to the level required.
Dembele for one was tried on both flanks but the young protege has stagnated and he’ll likely follow the big bucks trail to England, and the next youngster will roll up, whilst Celtic remain a buying club, another short term solution that makes B football pointless.
Just reading back Fourstonecoppi condolences on your loss
RC @1:47
I watched the B game until CL games begun, looked up the Lowland table and was surprised we were 6/7 points ahead of them albeit with a game in hand
MM,
Thanks for the considered, measured and courteous response,
I need to take issue with you on a number of your points,
first off you say Putin had 7 years to work on a narrative, do I need to remind you of the existence of the Minsk accord signed and countersigned by Ukraine, Germany and France in 2014, that as far as I understood was his narrative, he consistently and persistently reminded all parties that none of the signatories lived to to their promises, he was ignored by the west and signatories for 8 years. Which leads me to the next point i want to raise, you say without the invasion there would be no death and destruction on this huge scale, I expect the people of the Donbass who have been terrorised and bombed over the last 8 years would disagree with that assessment, I would in their position.
From here I will double back to another point you make, the airline “disaster”, is that the airline disaster that the Malaysians walked away from because they considered it political grandstanding, the same “disaster that the US refused to provide satelite images that would have confirmed the culprit?
Your analogy of wind V sun is a bit skewed I suggest, while Russia have been improving their economy and reducing their dependency on the dollar therefor making the population less prone to hardships created by sanctions, the EU is bawdeep into the dollar and spending it as they are told, on weapons rather than improving the lives of their populations. Cutting off their nose to spite their face because the US tells them they must or suffer the consequences.
I would also suggest your interpretation of the Russian progress is slow only because they refuse to implement the US strategy of carpet bombing civilian infrastructure, the Ukraininans destroy more civilian infrastructure whe they retreat than the Russian do when they advance.
I can also advise that Mariupol is now “liberated from the Azov Battalion. A thousand Ukrainian marines surrendered as soon as the Azov Battalion started to dissappear from the ranks in an attempt to escape.
The VZ show of telling the Azov he was president and they must listen to him doesn’t square, it had zero affect at he time and three weeks before the invasion the OSCE reported a ten fold increase of bombardment in Donbass, the civilians being the target.
Your suggestion that Russia are losing the shooting war appear to be based solely on the propaanda you are being fed, Mariupol is the litmus test, currently the Ukrainian forces are winning nothing, the idea that the Russian’s were forced out of Kiev appears to be evidence that the west has no idea about the Russian strategy, the Russian’s are playing chess while the west are are playing checkers IMO.
I expect the true story of what happend to Mariupol civilian population during the 8 year Azov occupation will become easier to access, the problem is that the west will continue to try and block all dissenting information coming out of Ukraine in an attempt to own the narrative and protect their reputation.
Finally, thanks for sharing you personal animosity with the Russians and Putin personally, it allows insight into why you believe what you believe and why you are more disposed to the propaganda you are fed. And I will not dismiss how powerful your feelings might be nor does it diminish your opinion.
Hail Hail
The man needs help
Fourstonecoppi
Lovely post about your Uncle Pat. May he Rest in Eternal Peace,
I forget his username but the Celtic shareholder on here a while back will delighted with our share price rise. Up near 40% since the start of April.
WITZ,
I’m still waiting for those examples?
You said you knew of plenty, why not let eveyone know?
I’m most curious.
MADMITCH on 13TH APRIL 2022 2:29 PM
I would not ignore the effect the expansion of NATO, and the lack of clarity over NATO’s raison d’être, has had on the attitude of the Russian state and its people.
This outcome was predicted by many, and their warnings were ignored.
Expat..,
Like you I dont hac=ve access to the BBC being in the UAE, but have had a look for it and it does not appear to be available any more however the following link is on the same theme
https://www.israel365news.com/267857/bbc-interviews-ukrainian-soldier-with-nazi-symbol-on-uniform/
AN DÚN on 13TH APRIL 2022 3:32 PM
I forget his username but the Celtic shareholder on here a while back will delighted with our share price rise. Up near 40% since the start of April.
###
What volumes are being traded?
Ernie..,
I agree it was also rasied by Putin in 2008 at a securtiy conference with western powers but he was speaking Russian so probably no one was listening.
We also have the November 2021 list of Russian security grievences and expectations which they wanted negotiated to produce a legal agreement that would protect their security, they were laughed out of town, well no one is laughing now are they.
A couple of weeks ago there seemed to be concensus on two things on CQN, backed up by an alert, yet understanding moderator. The first was the dropping of overt ranting and personal abuse – the second was a curtailing of prolonged political posting – the moderator put it thus “gonny no dae that”. I, and, many others were fully on board. The blog improved immeasurably for a time, and we were blessed with some great results on the field – not saying there is a correlation….but you never no!!!
Yet recently all the bile & politics have returned with interest – a sad state of affairs!!!!
No one looks for banning, or, exclusions – just a return to the ‘new beginning’ we seemed to embrace a few short weeks ago.
FOURSTONE
Lovely words about you and your uncle………….may he rest in peace.
but you never know!!!
CANAMALAR IT LOOKS LIKE OCD OBSESSION on 13TH APRIL 2022 3:47 PM
There is a difference between trying to understand why Russia has done what it has done and trying to justify what Russia has done.
There is no justification for what they have done.
They are in the wrong.
Canamalar might want to read this. The gullible ones who unquestioningly believe our MSM probably won’t take the trouble. It gives the backgrouond to the war and it’s by a former Swiss intelligence operative, someone who cannot be accused of being a “Putin apologist”.
https://www.thepostil.com/the-military-situation-in-the-ukraine/?fbclid=IwAR2o3iSaovGNUYfaDT9WgeeYXzBFOraKz6QH2RXBKd3oxv1m
Looks like there were just over 5,000 ordinary shares traded today Ernie going by London stock exchange website.
Our share price has went up a bit recently which I put down to a CL boost but the last couple of days have seen significant rises.
Ernie.., are you saying the Russian’s should just sit back and watch the etnic cleansing of ethnically Russian Ukrainians?
Got to say I’m no sure what they have done except stick to their word, which was, if the west don’t act then they will and thats exactly what they have done. And while you are fully invested in western propaganda and what you are told to believe I’m more synical about everything that comes out of western media, I have, for quite a while been inverting everything the western propaganda machine says and you know what, going on the form it usually makes a lot more sense.
But as I say when the smoke clears we will know more.
7CAPS,
cheers.
But as I say when the smoke clears we will know more.
—/
Would that be the smoke of the phosphorus ammunitions ?
What about Scottish independence?
Do any of you guys think that would be a good idea?
Radio 4 today, excellent series on complex nuanced history of the region
Stalin on one side, Hitler from the left
The Invention of…Poland Episode 3 of 3
Misha Glenny on the extraordinary history of Poland – includes the Miracle on the Vistula in 1920, the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, and how Solidarity set in motion the Soviet Union’s collapse.
Recorded on location in Warsaw, Krakow and Zamosc, with contributions from Professor Norman Davies and Olesya Khromechuk of the Ukrainian Instititute. The image shows the Warsaw Uprising Monument.
Another radio 4 programme
1. The Moth
Putin
From street thug to spy – what the Russian president did before he came to power.
To understand what Vladimir Putin might do in the future, you need to understand his past; where he’s come from, what he’s lived through, what he’s done. Jonny Dymond hears tales of secret agents, gangsters and the time a young Putin faced off a rat.
He’s joined by:
Nina Khrushcheva, Professor of International Affairs at The New School in New York and the great-granddaughter of former Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev
Tim Whewell, who watched the rise of the man who’s changing the world as Moscow correspondent for the BBC in the 1990s
Dr Mark Galeotti, author of “We need to talk about Putin” and an expert in global crime and Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute.
My team for Sunday. Joe, Carl, CCV, Greg. Reo, Captain, Big Tam/Matt, Liel, Jota, Josip, shogun warrior.
Fourstonecoppi
Lovely tribute to your uncle, a fine Celtic man who gave you the gift of Celtic may he RIP
LAXALT on 13TH APRIL 2022 4:11 PM
When fishing in difficult waters, preparing your bait is essential
aff oot
Fourstonecoppi, your Uncle was obviously a fine fella. May he rest in peace.
An Dun
Price down to normal demand and supply.seems trend in price is up over last 3 months.
HH
Refreshing to read alternative arguments on here from Canamalar, instead of the fashionable mantra about foreign affairs. There’s two sides to every story….at least.
And getting back to Paul’s header, Real Madrid is a fairy story in the CL. They always seem to drag themselves out of the ditch when they look least likely to! Benzema is like a panther, Rodrygo and Vinicius like bullets on the wings and they have the nous in midfield. Their biggest weakness is the defence. Glad to see Bayern out of the cup, well done Villareal !!!!
Reality & truth seems to give many on here, the jitters & the skitters.
Well said Canamalar, 79caps & Rimtimtim.