Photo: Vagelis Georgariou biglens.co.uk
We’ve often discussed that the difference between success and failure at Champions League level more often than comes down to which team makes mistakes. In the group stages Celtic were 31st out of 32 teams for the amount of possession they had, and for the number of chances they created, but they were immaculately drilled and progressed while more creative teams failed.
Cluj had less possession and chances than Celtic but also know the route to effective football, finishing on 10 points and being denied qualification for the knock out stage on goal difference.
Against Juventus, home and away, things changed. Defenders twice jumped for balls they couldn’t reach, instead of turning and standing their ground. Twice players were dispossessed inside their own half instead of getting rid of the ball early. These moments led to four of Juventus’ five goals and decided the tie. By contrast, Celtic enjoyed the bulk of possession and chances, home and away, against the Italian champions.
What are the lessons have been learned in our Champions League games?
Xavi has learned not to try to control a clearance from Fraser Forster at chest height. Spartak’s Insaurralde will know to keep his eye on the ball while clearing the ball when last man while Suchy will know not to clatter into strikers inside his own box.
No Celtic player made a single mistake inside his own half in either of the home games against Barcelona and Spartak and as a result, both games were won.
Our players’ normal mode of play, week-in-week-out, is the intercept passes, not cautiously move to a covering position. They also hold onto the ball and take a moment before releasing, activities which don’t often lead to a goal being conceded within seconds, but Champions League football is stunningly different than the domestic variety.
The most important lesson from our Champions League campaign is that Celtic are one of the most effective teams in Europe. We can create goals and defend successfully against the best on the Continent. We will look back on this campaign as the one which put us back on the map, and we’ll look back on the Juventus games as an important stage in our development.
The strategy is working; same again please.
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I’m logging off.
As has been said…
RESPECT to Neil and his squad.
Talk about punching above their weight? If it was a handicap hurdle we would have won the trophy!!!!
Scotland? Feckin Tragic.
Not unrelated to the wider problems the world faces….
Bankers!!!! Salmond. Desmond. Westminster and even as a glamorous extra Murray … A certain smart breed. A wee song to celebrate all of them, hope this is what Petec meant..
<a href="
http://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play?p=youtube+lennox+steam&tnr=21&vid=37B633B3C75375B3B76137B633B3C75375B3B761&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DU.4701963607474278%26pid%3D15.1&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bing.com%2Fvideos%2Fwatch%2F%3Fq%3Dyoutube%2Blennox%2Bsteam%26vid%3D37B633B3C75375B3B76137B633B3C75375B3B761%26docid%3D4701963607474278&sigr=13s1bokt9&tt=s&tit=David+Gray+feat+Annie+Lennox+Full+Steam+Ahead+Jools+Holland+Nov+17+…&back=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.yahoo.com%2Fmobile%2Fs%3Fei%3DUTF-8%26p%3Dyoutube%2Blennox%2Bsteam%26_tsrc%3Dapple&sigb=12c2fjud0"<we all know/knew
But are we all on the one road?
Dublin, Belfast, Cork & Donegal????
Hmmmm
Interesting Tim’s!
Whats this got to do with being a Celtic supporter ???
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-21704879
a helluva lot in my opinion. Those who voted for it should NOT hang their heads in shame.
Trust me. I know these things. Anyway back to the Broons.
Morning Celts
Whits the craic?
Are we off to Dublin in the Green…….
vhman.
In a word. Naw.
We should all be off to Iceland.
They are the only country that had the Cajones to stand up to the Feckers…
And would you believe it. It counted for something.
Petec.
I know you are a religious man. The next few weeks may prove trying… There is a shit storm looming…
KTF
Bed calls…
Ntassoolla
00:20 on
8 March, 2013
Paralysis by analysis LOL No top manager relies exclusively on stats
Good fitba post
Just back in …….. I was off oot :>)
pjbhoynyc sorry I haven’t a clue what yir on about sir.
V
Not a rare event for me TAL
V
Biggest dissapointment with exit to juve for me is we wont see big vic wear the hoops in europe again.
Thats what annoys me about SPL not rates highly..we wong get chance to see our top players blossom.
John park get to work.
Margaret McGill
04:35 on 8 March, 2013
Whats this got to do with being a Celtic supporter ???
a helluva lot in my opinion.
Maybe so.
But it`s got nothing to do with Celtic.
Thanks for pinpointing the distinction.
Good morning friends and a Big Happy Friday from a cold, grey but dry East Kilbride.
Dull and grey in The Granite City. Same old same old.
Lucyr
Wild Boar ribs for breakfast ?………never marry anyone from the Reb County CSC.
Why do people in the public ete think they can have Hacks as friends? Vicky Price should have really have known the truth in the old cliche no such thing as a free lunch
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/9915770/Vicky-Pryce-trial-The-Greeks-have-a-word-for-it….html
Hail Hail from a dreich West Lothian.
NFL will be with us for the long term.
Celtic is in his DNA and always will be.
NFL won’t get the same feeling or satisfaction any other place.
IMO
http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/spl/celtic-fans-praised-by-italian-media-after-juve-tie-1-2824759
Notice the Scotsman itself does not praise Celtic fans, just not a thing the MSM in Scotland will do
Just dropped in to say….
Kojo
I agree with you M8 about – Ledley’s performance in Turin.
I think that Ledley disappears most of the time anyway.
Ye see…there are fholk like yerself who can see through
one of the CQN cliques poster-bhoys and then there’s fholk
who imo are still wet behind the ears and widny know a guid
Celtic player if wan came up and booted them oan the erse !!!
Oh, how the board / bored luv this generation of Celtic fans who
are still wet ahint the ears :o)))
HH
Burghbhoy
07:53 on
8 March, 2013
Hail Hail from a dreich West Lothian.
NFL will be with us for the long term.
Celtic is in his DNA and always will be.
NFL won’t get the same feeling or satisfaction any other place.
IMO
IMO there has been no creditable offer to be a manager elsewhere as of yet
So the question has not been asked
He has grown and is changing quickly as the attire at the side of the pitch clearly showed
He made tactical mistakes against Juve of which he is aware now and has learned from, he still has a way to go yet and as you say Celtic is in his heart, i agree he isn’t going away soon, However, if he progresses in Europe the question may be asked sooner than we would hope and we may not like the answer
Morning all!
Been raining here since Tuesday!
Quite appropriate to go with my sombre mood.
…but I will soon snap out of it – because it’s great to be a Tim!
HH!!
BMCUW/ Ntass-loony,
Apols, missed your posts and been otherwise engaged the last few hours. Still up for the 27th though I have to warn, dates are difficult for me at the moment – supposed to be in Mayo 7th April, with flight booked, but am unsure about that to be fair :( Going to ask Christy Moore to refund my ticket just cos he’s famous and from Ireland, and he if he plays up, I’ll be playing the plastic paddy card on the bollocks! (SFTB, as usual you hammered in important points last night with true precision ! Excellent CQNer). Which brings me to the opposite, Ntass – ffs, due to your inane drivel and EXTREMELY irritating style, I’m developing a passing affection for you as I have with KevJ. I’d keep you both as pets, but Rentokil would be on my case :))
HH to all :)))
Jee-zoh,Kev.
Reading that post was like listening to someone scrape their fingernails down a blackboard. Not content with attacking one of our best players,you had to agree with one of our worst posters to do so!
I was s-o-o-o-o looking forward to the wee end bit when you said you were off oot,but you denied me even that.
Ah well,it’s a Friday. I can go to the pub shortly.
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS 08:14 on 8 March, 2013
Don’t encourage him. He’s desperate for attention.
FFM
Nothing that weekend can’t be done some other time,bud.
No biggy-I know there are constraints and circumstances. If yer available for a chat,I’ll call you around ten.
From the pub,admittedly,but before that has had time to matter,haha!
Chin-up,oul’ pal!!!!!!!!!!!
Lionsroar67
Agree with a lot of your points.
The Juve game saw Celtic trying to play the Celtic way, attacking. I’m sure a better result would have been achieved if we’d played as we did against Benfica and Barcelona( ie more defensively)
The trick for NFL in future is to learn when appropriate to stick or twist in Euro games!
As u say NFL learning all the time and even if we loose 2/3 players in the summer , I expect us to be last 16 next season.
Hail Hail buddy
STEINREIGNEDSUPREME
I know,but he’s not my problem-I’m off to the boozer shortly,and most people at this time-yourself included,I suspect-are travelling to work. He’s picked his moment badly this time.
Not sure what to do with my CL final tickets now. Maybe a Bor Dortmund v Barcelona or suchlike for the final will cheer me up.
It will need to be a good prospect to keep me sober that long in London on a Saturday,haha!
How’s things?
Ledley one of our best players ?
Aye – that’ll be one of the reasons why the CP is
half-emty or, half-full these vibrant days eh ?
Kojo – one of CQN’s worst posters ?
Aye – well it depends oan wit kleek yer in eh ?
Away to work now …. Downer
I think the Juventus results were so because Juve watched how we had played against teams in the earlier rounds and set out their tactics to counter us.
Let us have the ball and lie deep – stretch us out a bit.
Got to give Juve some credit for that I think. Other teams paying attention to our tactics are a natural result of our progression under Mr Lennon.
Anyway, it’s still possible that we can clinch the title a week tomorrow but only with the following sequence of results –
Current position
Having each played 29 games we have 65 points while Motherwell have 46 and Inverness have 43.
Tomorrow
We win, Aberdeen beat Motherwell and Dundee beat Inverness.
Next Friday
Motherwell lose at home to Hibs
Next Saturday
We win at home to Aberdeen and the title is ours with 7 games remaining.
Simples
Burghbhoy
08:20 on 8 March, 2013
___________________________________
Totally agree M8
Neil wis too gallus for my liking in the 1st game v’s Juve
and we got oor bahookie kicked as a result of that. imo
If ye say that on here…there will be certain sensitive folk
aroon the place who will run crying to their mammies. imo
Did Neil put his hands up after the 1st game and take some
of the blame …..?
HH
A wee song for kev
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ii9FHmYqguQ
Remember,there is no room in a marriage for three people. TSD will be insane with jealousy.
My last word to you on this-feel free to indulge yourself.
I never call-oot a grass by name.
Jist sumthin a learned at the school
of hard knocks.
KevJ @ 08:25,
Lenny got some amount of stick from firstly the meeja, who fed it through to gullible elements of the Celtic Support, when he was a PLAYER.
His role, and I’m not the only one to have commented on this!, was given to him by MON who understood the vision he had as a player. So he was employed to sit at the back of the midfield, defend, cover, and visualise the way forward. He’s been installing that vision into the likes of Joe, Beram, Vic, Efe, even Izzy, Charlie and so on.
Players that you’re daftly dismissing as becoming invisible are doing that for a reason. They’re adapting to the game. All our play was down the left, where Joe was a “Deadly Ledley” – outstanding. But Juve quickly adapted and saw that our weakness was on our own right hand side. The tactics between Juve and Celtic were amazing to watch over the first three segments of the four halves,, and credit is due to Juve (first leg cheating aside) AND Celtic. It was excellent football. I’d say that the Juve manager was the first one in Lenny’s managerial career who gave him a run for his money tactically. And if the shoe was on the other foot, and Lenny was the one with the high finance…..it would have been the same score the other way. That Juve manager is an excellent tactician, and I bet he revelled in the 2nd leg pitting his wits against oor Lenny, knowing it would be one of the best challenges he’d face in his whole managerial career.
You disappoint me by singling out Joe who was as ever a rock. I thought you were better than this !!! :)) Nah, I didn’t. Or mibbes I did. You’re a nugget, but I likes you :))
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS 08:25 on 8 March, 2013
I’m not bad. Been at work since six – on a run of early shifts at the minute.
Shame about Wembley, although it was always a long-shot. I enjoyed every minute of the Champions League.
Hopefully we will be back in it again next season.
In the meantime My Bloody Valentine is the next big date for me – after Ross County tomorrow.
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS
08:36 on
8 March, 2013
A wee song for kev
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ii9FHmYqguQ
Remember,there is no room in a marriage for three people. TSD will be insane with jealousy.
Only three,……………………………..i thought the personality disorder was not all accounted for
BMCUW,
Am pretty sure I’ll be there regardless – not going to pass up the chance to watch you running out the pub while your train is pulling away from the platform again…:))
KEV JUNGLE
Call me a grass on this forum or anywhere else,and the kidgloves will come off.
I copied and pasted your comment to the Daily Record hotline-so what?
You had always been so proud of seeing your name in the paper that you commented on it frequently on these pages. I did not tell anyone on here anything that they did not already know.
You buy the record,your choice.
You want to give your opinion to it so they can print it,your choice and theirs.
You want to play the victim? Go take a hike.
You made the rod for your own back.
tomtheleedstim @ 08:29
In total agreement (ref my post to KevBungle :))
In the first 10 mins of the first leg at Celtic Park, the Juve defence, (arguably the best defence in Europe let alone best keeper), were totally disorientated. But Juve’s excellent precision saw them get that first goal, and of course the cheating from then on at the set pieces unsettled us even more.
We weren’t outplayed – the Juve manager (wits his name again??) matched wits with Lennny very well, but had money on his side. Despite the cheating and the finance difference, I quite liked that Juve manager.