There’s a remarkable lack of nerves ahead of tonight’s game against Inter Milan in the San Siro. Perhaps, for many of us, all we expected from this tie was a sign that the progress we believe has taken place in recent months, would stand up to the scrutiny of European examination. Last week, it did.
So with a Key Performance Indicator delivered, thoughts turn to knocking Inter out of Europe. My expectations are wide open, literally, anything could happen tonight, from an historic win to a painful lesson, but we know enough about Ronny Deila to know that this afternoon he will explain to the players the plan to win the game. We will not pack our 18 yard box, nor bring catenaccio home.
Celtic will play with the freedom enjoyed by a team with nothing to lose. Inter have home advantage and three away goals on the board, but they also have the weight of expectation. No one in Italy expects Celtic to progress.
The key Inter expectation is that they will score enough against a weak Celtic back line. Based on last week’s 90 minutes, this is not unreasonable. What Inter don’t know, is if Celtic’s back four and Craig Gordon had a one-off exceptionally bad day.
The greatest football stories are made when triumph is grasped from failure. Celtic can score tonight, but if they win, it will be because Craig Gordon and his defenders have decided: None shall pass.
Our good friends at Magners have offered a pair of premium tickets in the Jock Stein Stand for Sunday’s SPFL game. To win the tickets, answer this question:
Who do Celtic play on Sunday?
Put your answer IN THS SUBJECT LINE of an email to me at celticquicknews@gmail.com. Competition closes at 5pm tonight. Winner will be notified tomorrow, so check your inbox.
While entering, if you would like to donate a £1 – a single pound – to the campaign to build a kitchen at Chibwata Primary School in Malawi for Mary’s Meals, you can do so here. £1 – that’s all, and for that pound, you get the warm glow of the knowledge that when you see the photos of that kitchen in a few months, you paid for some of it.
290 Comments- Pages:
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- »
Lost a European final in this stadium
Let’s make history tonight
Morning all!
Tic toc, come on 1pm EST.
HH!
Hmm…
COYBIG
HAIL HAIL
HAIL HAIL
well done BT, logged on and seen the big O,chased the dream.
Here’s to getting a result tonight, attack,attack,attack!!!
Celtic to win two nil tonight
Time for new heroes to emerge
HH
Anyone watching game in town tonight ?
Paulosboots was asking me last night
Aw Tony FFS!!!!
Charlton are investigating footage that appears to show a couple having sex on the club’s pitch.
The video shows footage of a man and a woman on the centre spot of a football pitch.
The description on the video claims the incident took place at The Valley, with the pair having broken into the ground at night.
A Charlton spokesperson told Press Association Sport the club knew nothing of the incident, adding: “There will be a club investigation.”
LB
Same heroes as last week will dae fine
HH
must be superfast fibre optic broadband in Blantyre! (thumbs up)
usainboltCSC
Two of the old Giants of Europe head to head.
Winner takes all
This is what it’s really all about
Cmon the Green Team
HH
paul67
What Inter don’t know, is if Celtic’s back four and Craig Gordon had a one-off exceptionally bad day.
Matthews, Denayer, and Van Dijk all had outstanding games, imo. Adam was many people’s MOTM, albeit more for his attacking qualities. Nonetheless, if we look at the goals, 1 & 3 were mainly, if not entirely, the fault of Craig Gordon (you could make a case for saying Virgil should have been closer to his man but I thought Gordon’s parry was lamentable) while no 2 came from Izzy’s unfortunate ricocheted clearance.
If the defence play like they did on Thursday, and Gordon plays as he does on every other day except last Thursday, we have a very good chance.
Scored from the halfway line
Quality;))
HH
We thought we’d run a Poll this afternoon to measure the optimism or otherwise re Celtic’s chances of winning this evening. We will close the Poll at 5.30pm and put up the results ahead of kick-off. VOTE NOW!
http://www.cqnmagazine.com/?p=3444
Glasgow celtic
No Pasarán
I don’t think the defence were bad last week. CG basically gifted 2 goals, he had very little to do otherwise.
Their keeper had MUCH more trade.
Sometimes we let the pundits brainwash us.
!!Bada Bing!!
11:54 on
26 February, 2015
Milan will be full of guys, with their pockets bulging with money extorted from gullible,innocent customers.
_________________________________________
Zoomed right over the top of his head Bada -))))
Hope to see the game tonight.
If I can’t, I’ll follow it on here.
I would like to make the following points about posting during the match –
No irrelevant comments like ‘Did your wife’s cousin work with a bloke who knows my best mate ?’
No use of ‘FFS’ or similar unless it’s a goal, penalty or red card against us.
Numbers shoud be spelt unless it’s a goal e.g. ‘Johansen played a good one-two there but it didn’t come off.’
If you don’t post a goal within 5 seconds, yours will be the 50th one. Don’t bother and save us having to scroll through two pages by which time Inter will have equalised or whatever.
If EFE is playing, please don’t slag him off. We know what he’s like, anyway.
Peter Lawwell will not be playing – again keep criticism of him for when the match is over.
If the ref awards a throw against us, when it bounces off Scott Brown’s shin, don’t call him a cheating Italian B***.
I can think of more but that’ll do for now.
WC
Just voted, t’would appear that I’m in the minority, however, hope springs eternal!
HH
Celtic will be posting League Cup Final tickets to season card holders on Monday 2nd March.
As with the semi-final, letters will be recorded delivery, so someone has to be there to sign for it.
Bawsman
Neither did I. I thought they played pretty well. When your keeper makes an error like the first goal it affects the confidence of the players in front of him.
The half time team talk from Ronny shows that the players are listening and funnily enough I think the fans chanting CG’s name helped him too.
I would like to see Brown in the role he played Sunday with Bitton in front of him.
Brown to protect the defence and Bitton to play passes furtehr up the pitch even just ten yards to make passes where they matter.
LB
To all CQNers in Milan, take care, travel safe and enjoy another great Celtic night in Europe.
HH and COYBIG
The Poll at http://www.cqnmagazine.com/poll-do-you-think-celtic-will-beat-inter-milan-tonight/
asks a different question in the address line from the actual question.
There’s a big difference between the questions: ‘Do you think Celtic WILL win in the San Siro tonight?’ and ‘Do you think Celtic CAN win in the San Siro tonight?’.
The answer to ‘CAN’ is obviously ‘yes’, but the answer to ‘WILL’ is not so certain.
Incidentally, I always thought the stadium was known as the San Siro when AC Milan were at home, and the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza when Inter Milan were at home.
Like everyone I would love a victory tonight , but being totally pragmatic, there is nothing in our away games that point to a victory.
We are definitely capable of scoring, but we just can’t seem to keep the door shut at the back.
So winning captains I have voted NO.. but hope to be proved completely wrong.
HH
4-1 Celtic, shockwaves around. Europe. Liverpool in the last 16.
Early lunch captain. 8))
We need to keep it tight for the first 20 minutes, without allowing them to take control of the game.
We lose far too many early goals in Europe before we find our feet. Cut that out and there’s no reason why we don’t have a chance. Blow them away in the last 20.
Just done that Poll, Fack me there are some doubting Thomases or HUNS on here today.
Tony –
I’m a Thomas and I voted for a Celtic victory.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aj4wcuo9Mgo for those wi nae memory.good to dyson with tho.:-):-)
SFTB.spot on with your football analysis as usual and your political hint too.(just this once hehe)
Celtic.Go to work.nothing to loose.keep our discipline and play
Still a Celt in the morning
I am optimistic
Hope in our hearts
HH
:-) Celtic :-)
Inter are a different team at home and Celtic are a different team away from home in Europe.In recent years I have watched more than enough horror games loseing goals far to easily.I am sorry to say watching our defence last Thursday did not fill me with confidence for tonights match all I ask from the bhoys tonight give them a game and allow the support win lose or draw to walk away with there heads held high.H.H.
hun skelper
11:17 on
26 February, 2015
jonnyrambo67
09:52 on 26 February, 2015
Sitting in and hoping inter don’t score is not for me, if it dosen’t work and inter score we need to change our game plan during the game, why not have a go from the off and see how we go, we’re not a bad side inter IMO are a wee bit better than us but I don’t think there’s much in it, might as well go out having a bash than go out on a 0-0 HH
———
Agreed mate. Too many times have we gone away from home, tried to play defensively, and been soundly beaten anyway. Look what happens when teams like Motherwell and Hamilton lost the 1st goal at Celtic Park. They don’t know what to do and end up getting hammered. And they have something to hold onto. We don’t.
If we go there, play defensively and meekly go out of the competition with a 0 – 0, 1-0 or 2-0 defeat, I’ll be angry. If we go there and take the game to them and get cuffed 4-1 I’ll be proud.
Inter will expect us to keep it tight and try and nick a goal. If it gets to 70 mins at 0 -0, then they will respond accordingly, by denying space and killing time. That makes our most likely chance of scoring coming from a set piece or wonder strike.
We’re younger, fitter and faster than they are. Our fans will be louder than theirs. Play to our strengths.
Same team as last Thursday. Inter 2 Celtic 4 COYBIG
What do you do?
Ronny Deila’s teams cannot ‘sit-in’.
Last week our runaround style seemed to take an evolutionary step from chicken-run to cunning-foxes.
Or was it a one-off? Tonight will tell – if the bhoys have the self-belief and confidence to go out in the legendary theatre of the San Siro, take the ball and play with instinct and guile, mirroring their comeback performance of last thursday’s last 80 minutes.
It’s quite a big ask. The last quality team to take a look at us one-on-one then meet again were Salzburg, and thet had our measure easily, at a glance almost it seemed, taking us apart at CP with nonchalant ease until they got fed up scoring.
Inter are a level above Salzburg. What will they surmise from last week? Will we play the role of plucky cup underdogs, pushing the big team all the way first game but beaten with ease in the replay?
Do Inter have our measure? Do WE know our measure?
Should we pull off a result tonight it would arguably be the most invigorating, promising Celtic moment since Stein forged his young Lions into a formidable European unit.
Then again, we might just be imposters, out on a jolly, living by the seat of our pants.
I’d like Celtic to put to rest a little of that bewildering unease tonight and show us we have every right to expect this side to achieve now. I’d like Ronny Deila to prove me and others wrong that he knows what he’s doing, sat at the controls, piloting Celtic with cool conviction and belief in his method, more like Tom Cruise in top Gun than John Belushi in 1941.
Should he start KC?
Inter will be paying particular attention to the flanks where our full-backs exposed them last week. Why not give them some guile down the middle to contend with too? Then use young Armstrong’s legs and wits for the last half hour.
Anyroads, good luck the Celts, big Virgil for 2, 100/1, Celtic 2-0 33/1.
We live in hope, and hooped dreams.
tom mclaughlin
Love the positivity Thomas. :)