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You are at:»»The beating of Barca, II. This time it’s Tony.

The beating of Barca, II. This time it’s Tony.

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By on CQN BLOG & Comments

Where do we start discussing last night?  Perhaps the end of the night.  There was joy in abundance, not only inside Celtic Park, but in the streets surrounding the game and in a hundred thousand homes across the world.  This joy manifest itself into a great sense of community.  That performance brought tears, hugs, spontaneous jumping up and down, and not only from Celtic fans.  Messages have poured in from fans of other SPL clubs and beyond.

This is what great sport can do for people.

Brother Walfrid has excellent timing.  He managed to arrange our kick-off meeting to coincide with match day four of the Champions League group stage.  Those of us who attended the anniversary celebrations on Tuesday were reminded what Celtic is all about, the best team in the world were in Glasgow waiting to play, the fairy tale script was written, but could it be delivered?

It’s the details which are most impressive.  Mikael Lustig looked like he could play in any team in any league.  He was comfortable and composed throughout.  Adam Matthews, deputising for an injured former Player of the Year, played out of position flawlessly.  I watched him struggle at left back on his Celtic Park debut in a friendly against Wolves last year; it defies explanation how far he has progressed.

Please forget about Victor’s goal, it will only detract from his incredible midfield performance.  His composure, skill and assertiveness troubled Iniesta and Messi all game.  This was all the more impressive given the absence of captain, Scott Brown.

Georgios Samaras was crucial for most of the evening.  He was the one player Barca seemed afraid of, although a lack of training caught up with him before he was subbed.

I’ll not burden Tony Watt publicly with the comparison I made of him earlier in the season but he possesses an impressive array of attributes: upper body strength, pace-with-the-ball and a nose for goal.  I’m tempted to say he will continue to improve but, to what level?  Without injuries to Hooper, Lassad and Forrest it’s unlikely he would have enjoyed as much time last night.  Sometimes Fortune Favours the Celtic.

All of Europe would have been impressed with Fraser Forster last night, dubbed La Grand Muralla, the Big Wall, by a Spanish newspaper.  He will play for England, so too with Kelvin Wilson if he maintains this season’s form.

The only man with a problem today is Neil Lennon.  Tactically the two games against Barcelona have been as accomplished as any I have witnessed.  Neil needs to know how to follow that in Lisbon. I’ve no idea.

Happy Birthday Celtic!

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  2. Mea Culpa on

    I have to agree with Mr Pilchard, sorry Sardine.

     

     

    He states that Celtic, in their 125 years of history have not come anywhere near to what deid club has achieved in their 140 years of, now terminated, history.

     

     

    I wholeheartedly agree. And thank God Celtic haven’t.

     

     

    Celtic haven’t

     

    – trashed and destroyed just about every place we have visited.

     

    – cheated and robbed every other club we’ve played against.

     

    – disgraced the whole of Scotland wherever we have gone.

     

     

    this list goes on and on and on.

     

     

    A very long list of achievements of deid club which Celtic are wholeheartedly proud never, ever to have emulated.

     

     

    Long may Celtic continue to fail in matching deid clubs achievements.

  3. petec on

    Fortunes Favour Mibbes

     

     

    05:20 on 9 November, 2012

     

     

    Pep Guardiola will take over from a real footballing Legend at Arsenal IMO. Arsenal may even be able to afford to buy Messi this time next year!!!!! ;))))

  4. Fortunes Favour Mibbes on

    Petec @ 05:23

     

     

    “Gates gets me going radio rental. The Club of Rome set the tone a long time ago and have facilitated the Murder of many because the Enlightened ones feel too many Humans on the Earth is a Problem.”

     

     

    That, my friend, is a comment that every living human being should read, more so us that are well off and not worrying about how to keep our children alive.

     

     

    IO was talking about that Bill Gates speech with a couple of friends tonight, but IO don’t think I’m good at getting the point across,

     

     

    that Bill Gates seemed to imply that starvation is a great population control tool.

     

     

    Aye, we live in “enlightened” times.

  5. Fortunes Favour Mibbes on

    Summa of Sammi,

     

     

    Ah thanks amigo, good read !

     

     

    Big Fraser has been a stalwart (is that not always the case with our goalkeepers when we play in Europe?!?)

     

     

    I hope to God he doesn’t, but I think he might be the first to move on :((

     

     

    Vic is not worth #67M, he’s worth #88M :)))))

     

     

    And Efe is no too bad either.

     

     

    I think we want to hold on to that Neil Lennon fella though.

     

     

    Hmmm, yep, he’s worth a wee bit of investment :)))

  8. BOBBY MURDOCH'S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on

    HOW GOOD WAS THAT!!!!!!!!!!!

     

     

    To explain,just had a pretty brutal 48hrs at work,missed the game,but managed to get an early finish two hours ago.

     

     

    So I grabbed a few cans and the remote control,parked myself,and watched the game from Wednesday.

     

     

    HOW GOOD WAS THAT!!!!!!!!!!

     

     

    A result to make Europe sit up and take notice,a result to put us back on the map? Or simply a result for us to savour,regardless?

     

     

    I’ll take all three-oh,and another can…….

     

     

    A great display from the teams,and from the fans too.

     

     

    A great night for a party.

  15. Estadio Nacional on

    Thinking about it there not many teams in the world who would not have watched that game and thought ‘wish we could do that’

     

     

    real Madrid probably as they beat Barcelona on away goals in the Super Copa but thats about it, not too bad.

     

     

    Theres not one club in the world where they watched the game and didnt think ‘wish we could do that’ when they saw and heard the supporters. Yous played a good game the other night so ye did.

     

     

     

    Its brilliant being the best in the world so it is.

  21. Tallybhoy on

    Morning all!

     

     

    Still savouring that fantastic performance and result from Wednesday, and the incredible atmosphere!

     

     

    Watched the match 3 times already – and will watch it again later today!

     

     

    Just cant get enough!

     

     

    Off to pick olives now!

     

     

    HH!!

  24. Fortunes Favour Mibbes on

    Mornin all.

     

     

    Just realised I’ve a few hours to spare.

     

     

    So why not watch the game again…..

     

     

    Gettin a few emails back already from the great link Summa of Sammi gave us.

     

     

    Nae chance of getting summit as beautiful as this from the Scottish meeja – this highlights the difference in approach.

     

    Feck em!!!

     

     

     

    This is it:

     

     

    http://www.esport3.cat/video/4327390

  26. Marrakesh Express on

    My fav bit is the ‘glasgow’s green and white’ being boomed out at the start of the game…apart from the goals of course.

     

    That must have had an effect on the players.

  29. PJBhoynyc on

    Still not sinking in……

     

     

    The measure of what happened.

     

     

    Yes the future looks bright!

     

     

    Yes, the darkest Knight

     

     

    Is just before Dawn.

     

     

    A wee song for the Intelligent One, the team, but more spacifaclly

     

     

    The journalists who are locked into the past….. Ya dumb, selfish egotistic Bassas…

     

     

    Roll On The History….

     

     

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKFYtUJFYVE&feature=related

     

     

    And does it not?

     

     

    Armageddon and loving it….

  30. Taurangabhoy on

    Casual Friday at work today was Celtic shirt time for me. The comms manager who is a kiwi with an old man from Greenock came in with a Celtic top on. At least a dozen English lads who support Liverpool, Palace, Newcastle, Blackburn , Spurs …came up and genuinely were happy for Celtic and our family. One Chelsea fan even emailed me to say something like everything about Celtics win was magic thats why I love football. An amazing result resounding around the World. Just reading some of the Barca peeps tweets about the Celtic park support. It gladdens my heart and makes me wish I could have been there. For you who were it will live in your memory forever. Hail Hail the Celts are here.

  31. BOBBY MURDOCH'S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on

    FFM 0546

     

     

    Pure magic,even before the kick-off.

     

     

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~

     

     

     

    SUMMA OF SAMMI 0611

     

     

    I listened to it on R5-fair play to Alan Green,his enthusiasm and appreciation were superb.

     

     

    Also the coverage on radio let the listener know of the intensity of the noise-they had to shout to be heard above the crowd! On TV coverage,the sods muted it……….

     

     

    Next time I’m watching a CL game,I’ll listen to radio commentary alongside it.

  33. BOBBY MURDOCH'S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on

    TALLYBHOY 0636

     

     

    Picking olives?

     

     

    I’ve just finished watching it-at last!.

     

     

    AND I COULD CRUSH A GRAPE……….

  35. Big Nan on

    Top of the morning to you all from a cloudy and breezy Fife.

     

     

    Lubo, good article in the Independent right enough.

     

     

    I liked this bit: “The Green Brigade, a group of Bhoys ultras who sit in a corner of the ground and often lead the chanting, had worked hard to produce a breathtaking montage before kick-off that spelled out 125 years in memory of the club’s foundation in 1887, along with a huge Celtic badge.”

  36. ASonOfDan on

    Morning,

     

     

     

    Jim McGuinness’ future as manager of All-

     

    Ireland champions Donegal looked

     

    increasingly doubtful last night as he

     

    remained in Glasgow to iron out a deal that

     

    will see him take up a role as a performance

     

    coach at the Celtic FC Academy.

     

    McGuinness is believed to have been offered

     

    a part-time post that could be worth up to

     

    €150,000 (£120,000) per annum and would

     

    see him spend between three and four days

     

    a week at Parkhead. But he is understood to

     

    be keen on retaining his position as

     

    Donegal manager in 2013 despite the

     

    obvious time and logistical pressures

     

    involved.

  38. up_over_goal on

    Morning, CQN

     

     

    I doubt there has been much discussion on this, for obvious reasons, but I would like to know what the general consensus on Hearts is.

     

     

    Leaving aside the fact that Hearts’ implosion was always on the cards (and ignored, if not denied, by most of their fans – hmmm, now where have we heard that before?) and that many of CQN’s wiser heads were predicting a Tynecastle crash to presage the one at Ibrox, what are the implications?

     

     

    1) Will Romanov liquidate Hearts?

     

     

    2) If the above happens, there will obviously be a significant financial hit for every club. Will there be another club who cannot withstand the loss, leading to the fabled domino effect?

     

     

    The irony of our victory against the greatest team on the planet is inescapable. Here we are, clad in glittering raiment, understandably preening ourselves, but we are standing on the shifting sands (jeez, any more metaphors and James Forrest will sue, ed.) of a league teetering on the brink.

     

     

    Now, before anyone gets antsy about my post, I am in no way suggesting that this is down to the plight of Cheat FC. Hearts’ downfall would have occurred regardless of what has happened at spiv central. However, we are clearly in the middle of a season, and the SPL itself is unlikely to have the funds (or the will, given Romanov’s shadowy financial dealings) to bail out Hearts until June 2013.

     

     

    I’d like to know if Celtic plc have had any scenarios in place for what most are saying is a widely anticipated event.

  40. Marrakesh Express on

    Taurangabhoy

     

    good to know ex pats from uk are praising us.

     

    Ive got family in Aukland who will be over the moon like your good self

  41. Taurangabhoy on

    Hail Hail Marrakesh how many see us as the way to be football supporters. I remember when Stan Petrov scored against the liquidated and siad that he was now a Celtic supporter and when Sammie refused to be transferred despite the boo boys because he was a Celtic supporter and now we have a young team of new Celtic supporters. Your family in Auckland will be as happy as I am and as homesick.

  42. Awe_Naw_No_Annoni_Oan_Anaw_Noo on

    Awoken …. Hangover free

     

     

    JOCK STEIN JOCK STEIN JOCK STEIN JOCK STEIN JOCK STEIN JOCK STEIN JOCK STEIN

     

     

    Just needed to get that off my chest.

     

     

    Lifes good

     

     

    HH

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