Bayern Munich left Glasgow with three points, but that was two more than they deserved. The game was decided on a 22nd minute lapse. Dedryk Boyata should have headed but allowed the ball to bounce behind him. This is the kind of mistake which primary school kids are shouted out for. From that moment, Coman was clear through on Craig Gordon, who made the mistake of coming out of his box in the vain hope of reaching the ball before the French international striker. That aside, Celtic were excellent and deserved a point for their efforts.
As with the corresponding game in Munich, this was a game for James Forrest, not Patrick Roberts, so I was pleased Brendan Rodgers’ hand was forced with the injury to Patrick. James was outstanding. He regularly drew three defenders, kept his head up in possession, and created the chance which allowed Callum McGregor to convert.
Watch James again at the goal. He played the magicians’ trick: “Look over here, watch me.” Every Bayern Munich player was focused on him before he pulled a rabbit out of the hat, it was a thing of beauty. Wing play is difficult, although it seems it is more difficult for some to understand it, than it is to play there. I enjoyed watching Arjen Robben, but James was the more productive winger last night.
Screeds have been written about a momentary lapse by Nir Bitton at Firhill, which cost Celtic nothing. Last night, under the most intense pressure, the player grew in stature in the central defensive position. I heard “What are you doing?” as he chased down a loose ball in the Bayern right back position a moment before the Celtic goal, but without that, or his build-up play which led to the goal, we would not have drawn level.
It is also worth recording that Celtic still had the option to make a substitution when Nir received a head injury which resulted in several minutes treatment and the application of a substantial bandage. If his appetite for a scrap was in question (you know what I mean), he would have left the field at that moment.
I was getting frustrated for Callum McGregor, who constantly showed for the ball, but in the central role he started the game, seldom received it. It was a brave move for Brendan to hook Scott Sinclair and push Callum wide, although Scott was clearly below his best, but this change was pivotal in getting Celtic level. The aforementioned build up play from Bitton, the run and delicious dink from Forrest, cut Bayern open. In true Halloween fashion, Callum wasted no time in burying ghosts of past German encounters.
Scott Brown was imperious, while Stuart Armstrong will still be replaying his early chance to open the scoring over in his mind, he can be satisfied with his performance. Lustig and Tierney put in mature and energetic efforts.
Moussa Dembele had little scope to shine; an early left foot effort which he didn’t connect with cleanly was the sum total of his genuine opportunities. Celtic wisely put numbers in defence and midfield, leaving the striker isolated.
A word about Dedryk. He dropped on his knee on the final whistle, no doubt feeling the pain of his earlier mistake. You and I have been watching football long enough to know this is part of the game. Big Billy shared a couple of similar memories with me, which he carried like old wounds. Dedryk has recovered from darker places during his time at Celtic and can use the hurt from last night against PSG, and when his countrymen visit on match day 6. It was an infuriating moment, but he is a player unrecognisable from the Dedryk we lamented in Molde.
There is so much to be positive about. On similar form, we will destroy Anderlecht and no one will fancy coming to Celtic Park in the Europa League. So what do you have to worry about? We’ll talk about that tomorrow.
Brendan Rodgers – The Road to Paradise is available now from CQNBookstore.com – the first 100 orders received will come with a free gift.
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Feliz Cumpleanos BT
HH
Tontine Tim @ 5.15…after that game and the lap of honour, my pal and I marched all the way to Bridgeton Cross with the singing fans even though we lived in Rutherglen…
VFR
Celtic Punctilious News would be a most apt description for this place!
HH jamesgang
Looking forward to seeing the tactical battle between Zidane and Ponchettino today.
Ponchettino won the first round in my opinion.
Should be a very good game.
Cultsbhoy…have you not sucked all the marrow out of that bone yet?
Cultsbhoy…don’t worry, Lawrie fae Dennistoun agrees with you, so you must be right… :-)
MURDOCHAULDANDHAY on 1ST NOVEMBER 2017 5:54 PM
‘Sad news on the passing of “Mince from celticminded RIP’
###
Really sorry (and shocked) to hear that. May he rest in peace.
Very sad news about Mince. RIP
Last night
At that level you’ve got to take your chances
Because chances are few and far between
Somebody said earlier that they have better players than us
You could see the manifestation of this in Stuart’s first half miss
Armstrong is a great player but his belief in himself deserted him
That was the diff between a lot of the Bayern players and some of ours
Belief.
In saying that Jamesie calmac broonie Kieran all seemed to believe
Kris Commons brilliant talking about his time at Celtic on BBC Scotland…
btw…dick wilson would like to see Kieran go to Europe rather than EPL…funny fanny…
cowiebhoy
your sister was in the irish club watching the game.
South of Tunis
Knowing of your love of blues, check this out. And have a look at Studebaker John and the Hawks
https://youtu.be/8swfsdrA91g
KINGLubO
We lost 2 goals last night. And quite rightly we analyse who did what wrong. And invariably there are those who propose the solution that we should have bought centre back (presumably of better quality than what we have).
How much money should we spend? How much is enough? How much did Chelsea spend in order to concede 3 last night?
Does Boyata have a history of not heading long clearances that would suggest he is not learning? I’ve seen him nod those to a team mate. Or chest it down and pass it. Or even nod it back to the keeper. So why not that one? Did he think it was going to go through to the keeper. Or did he get a shout? Doesn’t matter.
My point is that he has been brilliant for us. And it was either an error of judgement or a brain fart. No need to over analyse.
Bitton for the goal. Is the first centre back to be beaten in the air from a cross? Did Henrik used to do it regularly. The attacker got up early, was powerful brave and accurate.
Why did Bitton take a step forward? Well, he did it many times on other crosses and resulted in him cutting out the cross. This time, it meant he was disadvantaged in the aerial tussle. Big deal.
My mantra remains, domestic success first, any success in Europe is a bonus. We have limited resources/ funds compared to the big boys so realistically a draw or win is a shock result.
CULTSBHOY- LAST OF THE FAMOUS INTERNATIONAL PLAYBHOYS on 1ST NOVEMBER 2017 5:41 PM
Bottom line is that we started the season with Jozo, Dedryck and Erik with Ajer as a fill-in. At that point in time, luring a decent centre half who would be playing 4th or 5th fiddle would have been pretty fruitless IMHO.
Those who would come wouldn’t be of the standard for the CL stage and those who were of CL quality were already taken. It was a Catch-22 situation. The fact that Jozo and Erik have been long-term casualties wasn’t foreseen hence it wasn’t planned for.
It has impacted to an extent but would it really have made a material difference to the points tally we have thus far? Possibly might have got a point last night, but the game in Munich and the game against PSG would have given the same results.
KTF
TH
The one that lives and is a regular or the one that’s visiting to help with the twins :-))
And I can only assume with brother in law
Now I’ve not commented on the game
One frustration of mine – we really need to reduce the poor passing giving up possession at this level.
If pass not on keep the bloody ball
Supersutton
Dedryk’s mistake apart I thought he played really well
Lots of times I could see Brendan’s coaching with
Dedryk in as you say taking it on the chest finding a man rather
Than just clearing
In fact last night I witnessed this from many in green and white
Hemmed in and the only pass available was a five yarder to a teammate
Who was covered .in the past a blooter up the park would be the option selected
But you can see the trust in each other now
And yes we got beat but we competed
Funny listening to Radio Sevcoland thinking Sevco are some kind of “big club”….
Looking forward to tonights games, Spurs Madrid i will be watching although Napoli Citeh looks tasty. Had a fantastic experience all round last night. Saw this link for the goal earlier, could watch it all day.
https://twitter.com/celticfc/status/925698521285693440
Kej @ 5.58
“NFL’s scary dudes are gettin closer, hmmmm.”
Who would win in a fight between NFL’s scary dudes and Mark McGhee’s cute warriors?
For someone who criticised NFL heavily during his reign as Celtic manager you have suddenlty developed faith in hte man.
Or you are at it again.
I hope some day you learn to post your true feelings rather than this shock jock stuff
Keevins re-treads csc
GLASSTWOTHIRDSFULL on 1ST NOVEMBER 2017 7:22 PM
Funny listening to Radio Sevcoland thinking Sevco are some kind of “big club”….
The club they try to pretend they are were a “big club”. Even then , any “bigness” was achieved dishonestly.
TTR
Stunning (but hey, enough about you!)
What a goal. What a pass.
Started with 6 Scots on the field last night.
HH jamesgang
Happy Birthday to BlantyreTim.
Another fortunate CQN’er who doesn’t share his birthday with me :-)
Thoughts with the family and friends of ‘Mince’ . RIP.
Not commented on last nights game, but i watched, very proud of our Bhoys, who silenced a lot of critics last night. Unfortunately, Haters gonna Hate, as the kids say, and no matter what happened last night we would have had our detractors today. There aren’t enough buckets for all the vomit that they’re currently spewing, so their only recourse is to criticise, and downplay the achievements of our tem since Brendan arrived.
Long may they spew.
p.s. Not aimed at anyone on here. There’s been some very good analysis here, from people who obviously know what they’re talikng about. More power to the blog. I came to this place because it had a very good reputaion for being a cut above many of the other fans forums / blogs, and it really has been an education, in more ways than one.
HH
Evening all
Been interested to read back posts today and the reaction to the game. I do tend to think that the most important thing is that we lost but would in no way wish to understate how well we played- I’ll repeat something I said last night which is that I cannot recall us playing as well in a European game and still losing.
i saw some comments about players ‘owing us’ – Stuart A for his miss on 4 mins, Dedryk B for his error at their first goal and Scotty S for a quiet night. Have to say I disagree with that sentiimemt totally. The first two played very well after their bad moments and that does me. As for Scotty he was subdued in an attacking capacity – and he may have confidence issues at Champions League level- but he works hard and as with James Forrest he back tracks effectively.
i am surprised at the criticism of Nir B for the second goal. The problem for me comes with the relative ease that the winger had to make the cross- too much time and space to get in a cross. It was the one noticeable defensive mistake Mikael made all night but at this level such mistakes get hammered. I think comparisons between Nir B and George Connelly are a bit premature [ George is in my top 6 or 7 best Celtic players] but more experienced centre backs would have had difficulty in clearing that cross with Martinez rattling towards them!
What is the general verdict re the ‘handball’ for their first goal. TV evidence I have seen seems inconclusive.
Onto McDiarmid on Saturday for a massive match. i would guess that one or two players might be carrying knocks after last night in which case rest them but otherwise as strong as we have available and no experiments. The league is thing now.
jimbo67
cowiebhoy
i dont know, think sh lived here before, had a young girl with her, name might be evelyn but not good with names.
passing is a bugbear with me, a simple pass to a team mate should be no problem but it is, i give a hard luck if he is trying to thread the needle pass.
so of our first touches are bad as well basic stuff.
Hi, This is Niamh, using my Dad’s name to just let all ye kind folk who voted for me know, that thanks to your generosity of spirit, I survived the Public Vote and am one of the Finalists in the Competition.
I’m absolutely certain I wouldn’t have made it without ye’re help so once more a sincere thank you to each and every one.
My Dad said it’s the unseen Fenian hand, not really sure what that means, anyhow he has just arrived back from Glasgow about an hour ago and I think he wants to talk about the game, so I’ll butt out and give him back his lap top.
Thank You All Very Much.
Pog,
Megabus is the way forward. Just booked 3 return trips from Dundee to Glasgow for 11 Nov, AGM on 15 Nov and Anderlecht 5/6 Dec – 50p for the lot (all booked at the same time)! You know it makes sense, lol.
HH
Fan-a-tic
I fancy RM. The big pitch will suit them.
Can be devastating on the counter-attack on their day.
Jimbo67
Not accepting that
It’s the Treble, in an invincible way
Plus
The Europa Cup :-))))
But
First your right it’s 63
CORKCELT:
Niamh, absolutely fantastic news, well done. Beautiful name by the way, had it chosen if we had a Ghirl but we had a Bhoy so he is Conall.
Don’t give T the keyboard, he slagged me plenty last night…:)
Keep the Faith!
Hail Hail!
Friesdorfer
:-))))))))
Get on board Pog
COWIEBHOY on 1ST NOVEMBER 2017 7:48 PM
Met L and J last night at the corner, both looking radiant. I guess J managed the full game, think Kevin was sweating a bit…:)
Keep the Faith!
Hail Hail!
Can’t believe how quiet Wembley is.
Miss Corkcelt
Huge congrats, and very best of luck in Finals
Now if you need the Unseen Fenian Hand support, tell your Da
Hail Hail Niamh
Cowiebhoy
You got there in the end!
jimno67
BLANTYRETIM:
Hoopy Birthday mate; I know I messaged you earlier. Hope you’ve had a great day.
Keep the Faith!
Hail Hail!
Lennybhoy
Did L, tell you about her next planned adventure
3 weeks teaching in the middle of Ghana for a special local charity, sponsored school
School only ever had 1 trained teacher
Will be looking at a wee fundraising venture later – for the school only
Laura is funded for her trip
Niamh…well done to you! Keep us informed…
What is it with this Murray park mob,every time Celtics opponents come to play in the Champions league,that mob for whatever reason,give there training facilities to them,and Celtic are just as bad when they hire a bus from one of the Huns directors,can’t get me head round these things,