I know you are feeling more confident than the cold facts suggest you should be. Bayern Munich are one of the top four favourites to win the Champions League (as are PSG), they comprehensively beat Celtic 3-0 less than two weeks ago and fear no stadium in the world.
But, you have seen similar movies before, where Celtic overcame Juventus, Manchester United, Milan and Barcelona. You know better than to write-off Celtic at home in the Champions League. We have a point to prove: Bayern did not see the best of us in Bavaria earlier this month. They were superior across the field, but they have no idea how true a reflection of our ability this was.
My suspicion is that we can play much better. James Forrest is more suited to the counter-attacking play we can expect, so I don’t think the absence of Patrick Roberts will be material to the challenge. Despite Saturday’s draw, legs have been undertaxed for six days, so muscles and minds will be fresh for the challenge.
This is not Bayern Munich’s cup final. In fact, they have a table-topping clash with Borussia Dortmund ahead on Saturday, on balance, a more important game than tonight’s. We need to use the pain of defeat from two weeks ago. Leverage the fact that we underperformed; showed nothing of our real ability, to cause an upset.
I could easily tell you why third place in the group would be more useful to Celtic than second, but even the narrowest of wins leaves a place in the last 16 a possibility. Despite the coefficient points and possibility of Europa League football into the spring, I’d bite your hand off for a chance of knocking Bayern out.
The cynic in me was surprised to hear Kieran Tierney signed a six-year contract. Deals of this duration are remarkable, few successful players are prepared to commit to anything like this term.
It is great news for Celtic. They don’t really need to worry about losing the player until 2021, when he enters the final two years of his contract, but by then, I am sure we will be speaking to him again.
Kieran appears to have his career mapped out. His Generation (cough) at the club is certain to be very successful. He will win many trophies, represent Celtic on stages across the continent, and earn a significant amount of money doing so.
We are doing something right.
Enjoy the game. Drink in every stomach-knotting second of it.
BRENDAN RODGERS – The Road to Paradise is available now from CQNBookstore.com and for the first 100 sold on the bookstore we will include a free gift.
Available now at CQN bookstore.com
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MON the Euro hoops
A defeat tonight leaves us vulnerable to finished fourth in the group. Would be over the moon with a draw
I’m pretty sure we will make a fist of it tonight, a bit of luck and a good start to get the crowd involved. The time we scored early on against Liverpool drove the fans ro produce awe inspiring levels of noise. 2-1 will do for me Heart over head.
Top 3?
Catalonia President has fecked aff to Belgium seekin “Asylum” and is giving a Press Conference right now
Madrid Gov takes over Catalonia ?
https://twitter.com/talkingbaws/status/925310903339376641
Vote for Celtic Tifo on BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/item/f55f4039-0921-4420-93b1-58314614c935
‘Celtic will be eliminated if they get beaten….’
Radio Scotland
Some Zombies unexpectedly getting out on a Champions League night…
Good Afternoon.
Hoping for a much improved performance and at least a point tonight! Meanwhile, here is my latest –
a tribute to Man of the Millennium Kenny Miller…
https://theclumpany.wordpress.com/2017/10/30/kenny-miller-man-of-the-millennium/
Well done KT, and of course, well done PL and the Celtic board.
Somehow quite optimistic about tonight. Our main problem in these games is off-the-ball movement. With Muller and Lewandowski out this takes away a lot of that.
Still need to be fully concentrated though. At both ends.
I would go 4-4-1-1 to give some help to the full-backs but still be positive:
Gordon; Lustig, Boyata, Bitton, Tierney; Forrest, Brown, Armstrong, McGregor; Rogic; Dembele.
Think Brendan will probably go with the usual formation though. In any case it’s more down to how we play and how we can adapt to the game conditions.
1-1.
Sorry Paul, but I just don’t see second place as even a remote possibility. We would have to finish on more points than Bayern and I can’t see them getting less than 10 points.
Super syrupy love in between Guardiola and Sarri a big feature of the build up for tomorrow night’s Napoli V Manchester City . The beauty / the pressing / the skill / the similarity blah blah blah .
Super cynical ( and realistic ) TV pundit couldn’t resist this –
” Napoli will win nothing of value until they accept that scoring and preventing the opposition scoring are part of competitive football . Napoli and Sarri really need to learn that football is not a beauty contest “
Unusually, I’m really pretty reticent about tonight’s match. Generally, the very possibility of a win against such a side would animate hope. Celtic, at Celtic Park, in a European tie: Anticipation feeding optimism in the face of cold rationale.
Tonight? Rationale wins hands-down. On reflection, I think it’s that I simply don’t believe that Brendan’s team – set up in the usual way – can cope with the opposition, let alone take them over the distance. I’m expecting we’ll take a bit of a doing.
IMJollyCSC
borgo67 (12:01pm), we are only vulnerable to finishing fourth in the group if Anderlecht score 4 or more at CP or take something off PSG or Bayern in their other two games. The latter scenario is no more likely than Celtic taking something off the two big guns. Third place is pretty much in the bag already!
Robben has a knack of producing Olympic standard dives , he has pace and ability, I hope he plays the game fairly though this may be a thing of the past, I hope the Dutch officials are not taken in by his somersaults and squeals anytime someone gets close , good luck to the Tic a draw would be fantastic, a win just out of this world.
Just spoke to no.1 son,who works in Edinburgh these days
Out for a walk and get lunch( blue skies in the capital)
Look out of our window
The rain hasn’t halted here in the West this morning.
Which makes me think.
All different Celtic fans will be making their way to paradise this evening
Some ,like hebcelt and corkcelt will be sitting in the comfort of their comfy
Plane seats.
Spare a thought ,if you will, for fans like me and my bhoys who will have to
Get a lift up to Croy for the train and then take the 15 minutes journey in to
Glasgow and from there to the merchant city to eat and drink with our
German friends.
IN THE RAIN,….. in the rain
Say a wee prayer
Brilliant news about young KT. I must admit, that had I been good enough to play for Celtic , I too , would resist all advances. It’s all about living the dream, is it not. Great work by Celtic and the board on securing the deal.
Tonight for me is expect the worse and hope for the best. They are sadly, a better equipped and better financed club, but we’ve done it before and we CAN do it again. Just don’t sit back and watch their lovely football!!!
Hail Hail
KINGLuBO
THE BATTERED BUNNET @ 12 23
Sadly , you are probably right -but — maybe maybe just maybe .
I watched their 2-0 loss to Hoffenheim ( beaten home and away by Liverpool ) . Obsessive me watched it twice . . They had 75% of the possession / created chance after chance and didn’t take them . Not paying attention cost them 2 goals .. The longer the game went on the more the I’ll be the hero stuff appeared.. . Very much a we should be beating this lot but aren’t -what’s happening ? They lost.
mild mannered Pedro delgado (12:46pm), let’s all hope you are singing in the rain on your way home after the match…
From my own experiences in years gone by (but sadly not the last two), the incessant Glasgow rain is as much a part of the Celtic Park Champions League experience as is Zadok The Priest!
Word of The Day (This is how it feels to be Sevco….)
longanimity /ˌlɒŋɡəˈnɪmɪtɪ/
noun
1. patient endurance of hardship, injuries, or offence
2. patience or forbearance
Derived Forms
longanimous (lɒŋˈɡænɪməs) adjective
Word Origin and History for longanimity
n.
“patience,” mid-15c., from Late Latin longanimitas “long-suffering, patient,” from longanimus, from longus (see long (adj.)) + animus- “soul, spirit, mind” (see animus ).
KTF
From earlier this morning…
Big thanks to Blantyretim who sourced me the Zadok the Priest ringtone. It didn’t help that I had posted an incorrect email address (the usual schoolbhoy error of mixing up dot-com with dot-co-uk).
Been testing my phone’s volume 3 or 4 times already and the new ringtone is certainly having the desired effect!
Hope it’s dry enough tonight to hane around The Corner ;-)
Feeshul team
Gordon
Lustig, Bitton, Boyata, Tierney
Forrest, Brown, Macgregor, Armstrong
Sinclair
Dembele
Bigchipsuk
Enjoy the match,mate
Here’s hoping
Southside –
Swap Armstrong with Sinclair and I’d be quite happy with that set up.
On the way to work this morning I was behind a car with registration starting CMG. A sign for tonight’s heroic goalscorer?
Bigchipsuk @12.37
My worry was that a win for Bayern tonight pretty much secures qualification. They might draw with Anderlecht which would leave us vulnerable in the last game.
I agree that all that is fairly unlikely and third place should be ours.
According to the meeja there will be at least 17 EPL scouts at CP tonight, checking up on Tottenham and Manchester United target Kieran Tierney, in spite of the fact that he just signed a new 6 year contract. That means there will be 17 fewer Celtic fans with the opportunity to actually support their heroes (as opposed to looking to plunder Celtic’s jewels). And with yesterday’s KT news in mind, I won’t be surprised when I see the first headline about how Celtic are facing a £15-20M black hole in their finances, now that KT has refused to allow the club to cash in on the demand for his signature.
Meanwhile, I hope all you Bhoys lucky enough to have a ticket for tonight, are going to the game with your faces painted in the most terrifying Dia de los Muertos designs to scare the living bejeezus out of the Bayern Munich players!
On the subject of number plates….drove up part of the road after Saturdays game behind a car with the plate
L1 SBN. Didn’t manage to get much of a look at the driver as we passed them, but pretty sure it wasn’t a woman…. ;-)
Hope the rain abates for you Champion Bhoys tonight.
Aye Bateen Bhoy. As we’re on 67 plates at the moment, I’m surprised there aren’t a few more ??67 CFC plates around.
Judith looking fabulous
..
Judith…”Mmmm! That Bada Bing looks alright!”
Judith blotting her copybook.
Doing the weather in a ghastly shade of royal blue.
I assume she’s celebrating Halloween before it gets dark !
I picked up a Daily Mirrir in a barber shop near Belfast and saw the headline
PLUCK RODGERS by Gavin Berry
He quotes Brendan Rodgers liberally
Then we are given the probable teams
Celtic: Forster……,,,,,
I kid you not
SOUTH OF TUNIS on 31ST OCTOBER 2017 11:07 AM
My early choon buying was mostly – Silverdale’s Records & Books – corner of Argyle St / Kelvingrove St .
*reminded me of the time a local well known Councillor called me up with a concern in his riding, when he heard my accent, he was originally from Maryhill, in typical politician style said ‘I’ve got a wee bit of a problem at the intersection of Argyle Street and Sauchiehall Street”, me being a country bhoy and not knowing the west end very well other than going tae the Kelvin Hall replied “not possible Frank, they run parallel”, he laughed at that and said “your right so they do”, seems he didnae know the area that well either.
After googling it I was bit shocked to see they did right outside the Art Gallery.
Bateen
Back in May whilst we were in Lisbon, my son’s mate bought the reg plate LL67 CFC. £399 he paid. Belter.
When it comes to Judith, Bada is colour blind…
I think we should invite this guy to join CQN:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41813720
The pedant’s pedant…