Rolling-over St Mirren easily tells you nothing about what will happen at the Camp Nou. As it is, we performed as well as any team in Europe would have last night. Inter Milan and Chelsea won the Champions League in 2010 and 2012 respectively after putting on a similar performance to Celtic in the most testing theatre in football.
The manager, players, supporters and everyone at the club deserve enormous credit for their part in this. Celtic’s achievement is all the more remarkable when you consider they live within their means, and this is not a dig at some former domestic rivalry, the most consistent trait of those currently regarded as uber-teams, including Barcelona, is a refusal to limit expenditure to match income over any business period. We can admire the art of this Barca team while looking forward to the day Financial Fair Play regulations inhibit their expenditure to the £200m-or-so a season more than Celtic’s income.
Barca will know they face a difficult task at Celtic Park in two weeks. Our goal came, as I predicted on Sunday, after a free kick inside the Barcelona half was dropped onto an elevated Celtic head inside the box. When the game is analysed I’m sure the coaches will conclude that we should have invited more challenges in similar areas – on the wing, circa 35 yards from goal. This is an easier area of the field to get possession in than the penalty box and, for Celtic, equally as dangerous.
Messi, Xavi and Iniesta got everything right for their first goal immediately before half time. The passing was fast, tight and each first touch was excellent, but this was a rarity. On all other occasions Celtic forced them into a pass which was too tight or too fast, or to simply make another safe pass and try again.
The second Barcelona goal was a consequence of defending too deep to press the cross. It was the kind of goal you lose in the 94th minute on a huge pitch.
Celtic successfully defended corner kicks zonally. For 70 minutes Barca took short corners, almost always to an unmarked player on the wing, Celtic didn’t mark this player all game, which brought a complaint from me every time, but they defended the zones the needed to inside the penalty area. Conceding possession outside the box looked like a conscious decision. Eventually Messi was reduced to pitching corners down the throat of the Celtic defence with predictable results.
There is still have a hard job ahead to qualify for the knock out stage or for the Europa League but we have gone toe-to-toe with every team in the group and have competed admirably with each – which was regarded as an objective as recently as last month. I’m enjoying my football this season.
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Belfast kev
Perhaps we have sally all wrong
Mibbees at the ” shame game ” it wasnt what he whispered in neils ear … It was the steak bake splutter he sprayed on lennys neck
Too bad the financial dopers of Man City & Real Madrid both lose! Hello Hooray! What a nice day!
Back to important matters ;-)
We really are pretty close to the best of the best.
This is the first Celtic team I’ve seen with my own eyes without a genuine weak-link in the First XI, and even the very best of sides have at least one or two duds in them.
Forster, Izaguirre, Ambrose, Wanyama and Hooper, each is a potential £10 million player by reasonable standards of signing policy and £30 million+ for any number of the nutters who govern clubs in the EPL, French and Russian Leagues.
All of the above players mentioned are in or very close to the top 10 in their position in European Club Football.
Lets make Barca at CP an atmosphere to rival, or even surpass the Helsingsborg game.
I think – or maybe its just hope – that wee Craigy has just let the handbrake off a runaway train.
Having mulled over all possible explanations, I can only conclude that the Deady Bears are indeed correct and that Craigy is an agent of papal conspiracy working under the instructions of Peter Lawwell.
As a side bonus – Jabba now exposed as the fat Murray puppet he is.
Its great to be a Tim…
Mancini concedes CL
Awe naw
Our hero is simply casey jones …. The guy who was driving the train when it crashed
Who stoked the boiler …. Who fanned the flames …. Who set its course
Hahaha! I see Vermeer was in goal for Ajax. Punning headlines aplenty from the Guardian and the Times no doubt.
Tim malone will tell
Jabba and cardihun had lunch with Moonbeams over the summer.
HH
scotpatsfan
They’ll blame the same Italian that won them the EPL.
The CL requires trial and experience.
OG …..
What do you know?
Craigie bhoy Bond & his tools of the trade
http://i.imgur.com/Js3ti.jpg
8¬0
The bhoy jinky
Moonbeams is casey Jones.
Who does casey jones work for ?
HH
Fair play to Mancini for standing up and blaming himself not many would do that.
And he didn’t even demand to know the names of the opposition
Arf!
£20 treble Dortmund , Ajax and Malaga…… Malibus are on me
Beziques as well……
Awe naw
They all do the devils work … The devil i tell ye
Great night for the underdogs in CL. Malaga in particular but kudos to Dortmund, Ajax, Shalke and Olympiakos.
Yip. That’s Mancini getting the blame. This is funny. I don’t really care either way but this squirming and confusion is quite entertaining.
Skol for the hard men……
Not a good week in the CL for the best league in the world :-)
If by best you mean bust then yip
A wee stat for Lenny to pin on Lennoxtown Notice Board tomorrow morning.
Lost 2-1 Chelsea (defending CL Winners)
Lost 3-1 Man City (EPL Winners)
Lost 2-0 Arsenal (finished 3rd place EPL)
Lost 2-1 Real Madrid (La Liga Winners)
Drew 1-1 Juventus (Serie A Winners – undefeated in 18 months)
Won 3-2 Man Utd (finished 2nd place EPL) – were trailing 2-0 at home.
Lost 2-1 (in 94th min) Celtic (SPL Winners) – to Barcelona arguably the best Club Team in the World these past 10 years!
Compare – you know how you played in the Camp Nou – so where do we take it from here?
I think we’ve changed their minds.
ITV Football@itvfootball
Celtic by far the most impressive British team in the Champions League this week, followed by Man Utd and then a large gap to the rest.
Retweeted by Celtic Underground
Jinky – Bassa!! Naw that I’m jealous or anything…!
Mailed a few peeps today re Wee Oscar’s race night, you in Goa on the 17th?
T4
Was Casey Jones a Scottish or/and a South African production ?
HH
The boy jinky.
I’ve not had eye contact of him since administration.
His names mud anyway union fund vanished on his watch!!
Gave ye a mention to a big fellow Tim that started couple of years ago.
Telling how the union had to approach the management as the last 19 starts were all huns.ye remember?
A while ago noo.hh
Best comment of the night was when Gary Neville said “I can see this ending 4-3” with 20 mins to go!! He was not talking about Ajax
T4
I get back to manchester on 16th
Keep me a ticket for the race night
ITV Football @itvfootball
Celtic by far the most impressive British team in the Champions League this week, followed by Man Utd and then a large gap to the rest.
Seen this on TSFM :))Goodnight this time :))
RANGERS STATEMENT
(Issued on behalf of Duff and Phelps)
“As we have previously stated, Duff & Phelps maintains that our conduct of the Rangers Administration was carried out to the highest professional standards. We do not respond to information that is taken out of context, as we believe is the case in the BBC story. We welcome the opportunity to review a complete copy of the information that the BBC references in its story.” – Marty Dauer, Duff and Phelps spokesperson.
===========================================
Looks like corporate HQ in NYC is getting hands on with managing the D&P reputational damage limitation exercise, per bio link below.
Clark & Whitehouse not allowed to talk to the media now ?
http://www.duffandphelps.com/expertise/our_team/Pages/bio.aspx?itemid=91&list=People
When the huns were on the market, quite a while before minty sold them to our hero, I am of the understanding that our leader with the big bushy mouser, had a wee look see at the books through a company he has fingers in.
The unseen Fenian hand, ye canny whack it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBfKqZLOKkE&feature=player_embedded
For all you Jack Reacher fans out there. It was you that put me onto the books.
Looks good.
I heard a whispa the young DJ got a start ….. Go figure ;)
I remember the convo well regards the troo bloos
Remember stu keen with the swivel ring … Couldnt spell engineer but was in the gang
The boy junky
Where / who is Fireman Wally?
I can’t wait to find out. I think Casey Jones will probably land him in it sooner or later.
Ggh
Stop telling the world about my drug abuse :(
Jinks
Apologies for the typo. Fingers too big for phone screen.
Ggh
I know the feeling cos mine are too big to roll a fat one ;)
The boy :
That moniker might well be tribute to the hero of Argentina in 1978.
Damn those cold remedies
We are nearly into November and have not seen 1 post on who we should sign in the Jan transfer window to make us stronger.
Must be not a bad wee team we have here, no obvious weak links.