It is a measure of how far we have come during this Champions League campaign that a 2-1 defeat away to Benfica, leaving us favourites to qualify in second place for the Champions League knockout stage and assured of European football after Christmas, is a disappointment.
Unlike previous defeats in this competition, this one has not limited our ambitions.
Around this time of previous Champions League campaigns I’ve opined that Uefa Cup/Europa League qualification would be preferable to finishing second in the group stage, leading to inevitable elimination to a group winner. Teams who drop out of the Champions League have the prospect of a decent run in the Europa League, earning more coefficient points and potentially more cash, whereas Celtic never convinced me they could reach the last eight of the Champions League.
This time is different. We got it wrong last night and as a result lost the head-to-head against Benfica but this was not the case against Barcelona. Most of the current group leaders are better than Celtic, all would create more chances and have more possession against us, but here’s the rub, Celtic can score goals against anyone and can defend remarkably well.
Georgios Samaras has now scored in three consecutive group stage away games; he scored in all of Celtic’s five away games in Europe this season, surely a record. This is beyond a mere statistical oddity, it’s a result of a strategy which Benfica, Barcelona and Spartak have been unable to cope with (last night’s block-and-free-header routine was a thing of technical brilliance).
We’ve scored five goals in total in our three away group stage games. In the eight away games in the competition proper before this season, since losing in Copenhagen, we scored only once (remember against whom?)! In short, we can go anywhere and play effective counter-attacking football which even the best team in history had trouble dealing with.
That doesn’t mean we are champions-elect, of course. Benfica, who are a worthy team but are not tier-one material, got the better of us. They played to form last night and Celtic dipped. Scott Brown was clearly unfit, Charlie Mulgrew may-or-may-not have declared himself ill before kick-off but his condition did not help (stunning corner aside).
Neil also left out Kris Commons. Kris’s form has shaded since The Beating of Barca, so I was not surprised to see him on the bench, but did you notice we started to get balls into the Benfica box after he came on? More of this and I fancy Benfica would have yielded. In his post-match comments Neil Lennon reminded us his players are young and will learn from the experience.
It’s easy to overlook the fact that the manager is also young and learning as he goes along. His tactical decisions have been the real revelation of this group, even if he did leave Kris out and his gamble with Scott Brown didn’t work. His progress as a manager has been, as our old friend might say, astonishing.
Fraser Forster provided more evidence of his outstanding ability. Mikael Lustig and Kelvin Wilson looked perfectly at ease with under frenetic pressure but Efe Ambrose particularly impressed. I’ve watched Celtic defences for decades and we always seem to have a ‘junior partner’ but not now.
The defence made two mistakes last night but in all their games together they have yet to conjure up a Big Dan Moment.
My objectives for this Champions League campaign have already been surpassed but expectation levels are never level, so let’s take care of Spartak and see where the adventure goes next.
Orders are now open for the very first CQN Annual, get it here!
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TALLYBHOY
Save some of your special stuff for him!
Come on all teams to score in the CL
Folly Folly…I am a friend of Kenny McIntyre and you are wrong…he is neither pro-them nor anti-us…
ole real in the green n white tonight..
Real playing in green to try to emulate the world’s greatest club, Celtic.
Benzema first goal 6/1
are the huns still died?
Real Madrid take 1600 fans to Manchester ..we take 5000 or more to Lisbon ..hh
eurochamps67
stop reading over my shoulder… o))
BMCUW
I won’t just p*** in it I will spit in it!
Very disappointed – but not entirely surprised!
HH!!
Somebody should remind that halfwit Graham that his club died. I’m definitely going down to the bank tomorrow to get £100,000 in one of those new hun-loans. Apparently you don’t have to pay it back, better than the ole Aussie mortgage or so I’m told.
Zybsek,
Look at the pics you will see clearly more than 1 Asian guy, simply because Russia has a large Asian community.
In Uefa’s eyes they will be seen to be doing no wrong. It is unusual in the modern day, but in a country where the native black population is as close to zero as it gets, Uefa will not be surprised.
Given that the loans are due to be returned to the Trust from which they were paid, can HMRC not obtain redress from the trustees?
One of the biggest clubs in the world ?………..yes we are hh
Weebobby…,
So why has he never challenged jabbas lies ?
He’s a hun
GL,
had to get back in to work, wanted a passout, but just not possible.
jude2005 is Neil Lennon \o/
23:14 on
20 November, 2012
Seville67
He switched off at the 2nd goal.
Jude2005 is Neil Lennon,
I looked back and don’t agree re: Kelvin.
Efe missed another key header in the champions league and Adam was nowhere to be found ( at the edge of the box spectating) when the ball fell to the player 8 yards out.
Not Kelvin’s fault.
Seville67
1 team up 13 to go
Dortmund score
Kenny McIntyre is either a Hun or a moron, possibly both.
weebobbycollins
Interesting.
So how does one account for his performance either tonight or on the Referee-strike programme I mentioned?
Tonight, he had ample opportunity – and arguably an obligation – as programme host to offer a bit of balance to the rant he had allowed Jabba to embark upon.
The few questions he did pose were both weak and not followed up, allowing Traynor to elaborate on his tirade of unjustifiable assertions.
Friend of yours or not, at best he’s wholly unimpressive, at worst … he’s a lot worse than that!
FF
Goal
2 up 12 to go
Real Madrid score
Dubaibhoy
It is well known among the footballing agent fraternity that Zenit will not sign coloured players
There is no way that UEFA are also not aware of this policy
1-0 Madrid
1-0 Real come on you senors in green
Soal
What odds you get for that?
Saint Stivs
19:51 on
21 November, 2012
V was very appreciative of you being there and he is obviously brighter tha nI give him credit for as he said maybe you could not get time off..
This will never catch on you talking nice about Greenock and me saying nice things about V
22 to 1
Like Real’s Green strip(Hibee green)
How do you spell senors
Can’t understand how anyone could defend McIntyre after his foaming at the mouth antics during the MIBs strike.
Benzema next goal 6/1
are the huns still died?
Porto go 1 up.
3 up 11 to go
Oporto score
Packie is a good ghuy , just doesn’t want to be controversial or impolite. Think it has something to do with his upbringing!
He came to our CSC dance good few years ago. Could not have been more respectful or generous with his time.
No-one who has heard Packy speak about Celtic, would question his love of our club.
Come on guys he is steeped in it!
Don’t like the goalies pink gear
Neil @ 19.51…I’ve known Kenny many years. He is not as you described. He is a decent man who works as a radio presenter. You are very entitled to have your opinion of him of course, but I only wanted to take the opportunity to defend a pal…
Love him or loathe him ronaldo is one astonishing player
Burghbhoy,
He could have refused to take the gig, he knew what it was going to be about and he was obviously expressing his own opinion, his opinion does not represent the vast majority of Celtic supporters but he knows his voice is portrayed as exactly that.
Ronaldo making best defender in premiere league look like he’s got bootlaces tied together x
ernie lynch
19:09 on 21 November, 2012
No. The money was paid to the trustees and that’s the end of it as things stand.
I’m struggling to get my head around these “loans”. So, RFC paid money into a trust so they could give loans to their employees. These loans would be paid back to the trust at “some point” (although according to Mark Daly none have to date), but the trust did not have to pay the loans back to RFC?
So, as a shareholder in RFC, you see money going out of the company that will NEVER come back in (even if the loans do get repaid to the trust)? Wouldn’t that worry you? The debt going up and up, and all these payments going out with no provision for repayment……