All the players left out from the weekend (Brown, Commons, Forrest, Samaras) have travelled to Barcelona. Obviously our line-up will depend greatly on the availability of the above four but with Ledley and Kayal both looking good during the full 90mins on Saturday I'd imagine we will be relying on 14 players (inc. 3 subs) on Tuesday night as we're going to have to do a lot of work off the ball closing down lanes/channels etc. The midfield (Brown, Wanyama, Ledley, Kayal) are going to need to have the game of their lives. And big Victor needs to stay away from the referees yellow card. No needless bookings in the opening 20mins
http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/12040/8185299? Sky Sports run down of our recent matches with Barca in the CL and Europa(UEFA Cup).
http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2914/champions-league/2012/10/22/3469267/-? Celtic midfielder Wanyama: We won't sit back and admire Barcelona Well said Victor! Barca have a host of problems in defence through injury but we're still huge underdogs for this match. However, if Barcelona take their eye off this match our young team could spring a huge upset. Chances are it wont happen but the team are high on confidence and, unlike other campaigns, I believe we can, and will create chances away from home in the CL. We proved in Moscow that we have the players that can convert those chances although, obviously Barcelona is a massive step up in quality from Spartak. Still, this is football and anything can happen.
If Mascherano (5' 7") and Adriano (5' 8") start tonight at CB then we must cause problems at set pieces. The delivery from Commons and Mulgrew has to be good. And admittedly, so far this season, it has been. Also, we have plenty of pace on the counter attack and we need to utilise it correctly. These are our two best options for getting anything at all out of the game.
GRRRRR!!!! Barca 2 - Celtic 1 winning goal scored in 95th minute after the equalizer came in the 45th. I haven't seen any of the video, but followed the match on UEFA.com Oh for what could have been, but still proud of the Bhoys! Spartak beat Benfica, so Celtic is still second in the table with 2 home games left and 1 road game. Good position to be in, but that extra point would have been sweet!
Thankfully the guys listened to you (another great header from Samaras) , unfortunately Forrest & the goalie Fraser Forster didn't look good in the last minute of injury time (he simply has to go after that crossball inside his 5m box instead of not reacting). Soooo close to the huge surprise ... but well, it shouldn't be. Still a night to be proud for any Celtic fan/sympathisant.
I wouldn't blame Forster for the goal. Ambrose was inches away from making contact with it and I don't think Forster could be certain that it would make it all the way to the back post without someone getting a touch on it before then. If anything, I would say young James Forrest was a little slow in reacting but I wouldn't want to criticise any player after that effort. Equally I wouldn't want to single anyone out as they all played their part but, I did think big Victor was exceptional. We could really do with keeping him for a couple of seasons before selling him on to a bigger league.
For sure. I think we'll give Barcelona a heck of a game in 2 weeks time but we must pick up something in Lisbon and then beat Spartak at home in our final game. If we need a win in our last match to progress then I'd be confident the team would come up with the goods.
I wouldn't count on it. Celtic got lucky to have faced Spartak on Spartak's worst game of the year. It is unlikely Spartak would playing another game like that - especially against a team like Celtic. Yesterday Spartak had played their 3rd choice goaltender and had like half their team missing with injuries and suspensions - and they still beat Benfica. Basically, Celtic is likely to lose their next 3 CL games. The more likely scenario is Barca will beat Celtic easily in Scotland, and will secure the first place, and will not play their best players in Moscow, giving Spartak more than a decent chance to get points. Meanwhile, Celtic will probably lose their next two games. Perhaps Celtics best chance is to root for Spartak against Benfica and Barcelona - Celtic will definitely have good chances in the last round if Spartak clinches 2nd place by then. If Spartak has something to play for in the last game, I wouldn't be so confident in a Celtic win - even if it was a must win for Celtic.
What are you basing this on considering Celtic have only lost 1 Champions League group match at home and that was against Barcelona. I'm under no illusions that to get anything against Barcelona a team such as Celtic needs to have 11 players at the top of their game and a large slice of luck. However, we got our tactics almost bang on in Camp Nou. The 3 midfielders formed an effective shield in front of the back four and took up the space Messi likes to operate in. We couldn't get forward as much as we liked but when we did break we were quick and looked like we could pose problems. Barcelona certainly didn't win easily on Tuesday so it's a tad presumptuous to suggest they will win easily at Parkhead. Home matches for Celtic in the Champions League can spur the players on to exceptional performances. The first game against Benfica was an eye opener for every player in the team. The vast majority of this young team hadn't played in the CL before this campaign. They are amassing both experience and confidence in European competition and are growing into this with each passing game. You suggest that the teams performances are suddenly going to tailspin off. I don't see any evidence of that. You are more than entitled to your opinion but if it comes down to a winner takes all for 2nd place in the last game of the group stage then I would have bitten your hand off before the CL had started this season for that. And I would be confident in a Celtic victory.
Back to normal SPL duties tomorrow with a 3pm kick off at home to Kilmarnock. Following players out due to injury - Samaras Lassad Twardzik McGeough Scott Brown may be rested Not sure if we will make wholesale changes for this match but I'd imagine NL may want to freshen things up a bit. Possibly even give Hoops a little break as well...? Forster Matthews Ambrose Mulgrew Izzaguire Ledley Wanyama Kayal Forrest Watt Commons I'd like to see Tony Watt given the start as he was on form against St.Mirren last weekend. Forrest and Commons should be fresh and hungry for a game. Ledley and Kayal also and Victor as a beast. He doesn't need a rest. Matthews may come back in at RB and Wilson may be given a rest with Mulgrew moving back to a more normal defensive role.
The big reason is how other teams approach games vs. Celtic. Celtic could be this year's Apoel, but the thing is, once the novelty wears off and everyone catches on to the fact that Celtic is actually a decent team, they will treat it like one. I think a large part of Celtic's success has been due to the fact it has been underestimated by pretty much all 3 other teams. Now that each of those teams have played against Celtic, they know what to expect, and will take it seriously. It is hard to imagine Barcelona having the same kind of problems it had in the first game vs. Celtic. Now they will know better and will take care of business - probably before halftime. The game vs Benfica away is probably one of the toughest challenges there is. Benfica is kind of a home team, I think. I saw it last year: Zenit outplayed Benfica at home pretty easily and only mistakes by Zenit's backup keeper made it a close game (3-2), while away it was all Benfica. A case can be made it is tougher to play away vs. Benfica than Barcelona - as Barcelona can be a bit letargic and lazy versus teams like Spartak or Celtic, but Benfica will give it their all, and Benfica firing on all cylinders is the kind of obstacle that can only be reliably overcome by a handful of the very top teams in Europe. As for the home game vs Spartak - Spartak is build like a counterattacking team, with very fast forwards and skilled midfield - and yet they never seemed to play defensively (the game vs. Barcelona was the only exception, but everyone defends against them). If Celtic will need to get a win, it will play into Spartak's strengths. Also, Spartak is simply a better team - I know they got beaten by Celtic at home, but like I wrote above, it was about as bad a game by Spartak as one could imagine - they didn't play well at all - and yet they were still winning before a player got ejected and they scored an own goal. No offense to Celtic, but I strongly doubt they can get a win 11 on 11 at CL group level - even at home. And I doubt they will get any more opponent players red carded for a considerable period of time. You mentioned the lack of experience, and yet you say you would be confident in a Celtic victory. The thing about experience: it is a crucial factor in winning those decisive games. Anyone get beat anyone in round 1 or round 2 of CL group stage - this is a Champions League, afterall. But usually teams need experience to get to a level where they can be expected to deliver when it counts - that is in the last 1-2 rounds of the group stages and in the knockout stage. It will be a totally different ballgame then - there will be injuries, suspensions, etc. Not sure how you can have any kind of confidence in this team that lacks THAT kind of experience under THAT kind of pressure. So, strangely enough, I would say Benfica is actually still the favorite to get the 2nd place - as they get to play both Spartak and Celtic at home (and they play Barcelona in the last round when, again, Barcelona might be expected to rest several of their key players). Granted, Benfica lost key players and looked kinda shaky this year, but, again, their only home game was vs. Barcelona, and I would think they expect to get 6 points in their next two games, and I, for one, would not argue with them, as that seams like a reasonable thing to expect. And, I guess, those 6 point would guarantee them 2nd place, unless either Spartak or Celtic would get at least a draw with Barcelona AND beat the other team at Scotland in the last round. And I would still rate Spartak to be more likely to be ahead of Celtic.
And what do you think Celtic are predominantly...? Celtic's home record in the CL is comparable with most of the best teams in the competition. The reason we've only made it through the group stages twice is due to our awful away record. A record that hung around this clubs neck like a millstone until the game in Moscow. Spartak may not have played well that day but Celtic still had to produce the goods and did so. And I'm sorry but I totally disagree that it is harder to play away against Benfica than Barcelona. Against a Barcelona onslaught the strain on a player both physically and mentally is far harder than it would be against Benfica. Celtic lost a goal right at the end of each half which could be put down to mental tiredness as much as physical. Defensively, players have to be alert and focused for the full match as they are consistently under pressure due to Barca's ball retention. Against Benfica there will be more opportunities to counter and possess the ball more which will give the defensive players a respite that you don't often get in the Camp Nou. Fair enough. That's your opinion. Lets not forget though that the reason Spartak had a player red carded was due to him commiting a last man foul on Gary Hooper. If he doesn't make the tackle there is a very good chance, due to the form and ability of Hooper, that he goes through and equalises. Then who knows, Celtic could have gone on to win the game and you wouldn't be able to use the argument of being down to 10 men. It's not a strong argument for stating Spartak are a better side. The result doesn't bare that out and you could hardly say Spartak were streets ahead of Celtic at any time during the match. Spartak are a counter attacking team? That may be but it looks to me like they concede quite a few goals whilst playing away from home. And as mentioned earlier, Celtic are a very good home team. That seems a bit strange. How can you be so sure about red cards? The Spartak player deserved to go for the tackle. Are you suggesting Spartak were cheated? I also mentioned confidence. Which is a big thing for footballers. This team are visibly growing in confidence as this season continues. Did I also mention that they would be playing at home in front of 60,000 fans that will give them a huge boost? As for experience, I agree that it can benefit a side to possess it. And Celtic don't have that luxury this season. Thankfully, if it comes down to the last game they will have the benefit of playing at home to compensate for that fact. Talking of experience, Spartak aren't exactly swimming in it either, are they? Players such as Kallstrom have plenty of it but the club have only played once in the last 3yrs in the CL group stages yes?
Strangely enough in your post before last you were talking about Spartak finishing in 2nd place... Now Benfica... Anyone but Celtic I suppose...
Ahh, pre-match analysis and predictions! I've spent enough of my life watching and reading about sports to know that even the best reasoned and well-thought analysis prior to the game turn out about half right at best. Most of them are 90% wrong. Multiply that by three games or more and you know the product. That's why they play the game and that's why we watch. We love the unexpected, the surprise, the unscripted nature. My money would definitely be on Celtic to win the final game, but I'm not a betting man (see above...)
Celtic team for today - Forster Matthews Wilson Ambrose Izaguirre Kayal Mulgrew Ledley Forrest Miku Commons Subs: Zaluska, McCourt, Lustig, Rogne, Watt, Wanyama, Hooper
No fun to watch though (from a Celtic perspective obviously) To be fair, Killie played well and thoroughly deserved the victory. We were poor. Very poor. A totally insipid display from the whole team. Couldn't even blame it on tiredness from Tuesday as there were 5 players starting today who didn't start in Spain. Even when we went 2-0 behind we normally look like mounting some sort of comeback at home but that never got close to happening today. We missed some big chances (Ledley, Watt) but it would have been harsh on Kilmarnock if we'd got anything from that game today. Their first goal was due to slackness on our part. Matthews pass inside to Ambrose was ill advised but Efe had a chance to clear it but tried to be too clever on the ball (as he was on a few occassions today) and Sheridan robbed him, ran through, and calmly rounded Forster. The 2nd came from the penalty spot and we can't complain. There looked to me like there was contact on the Killie players heels which caused the fall. All in all, not a good day at the office.
Q-Final tonight - v St. Johnstone - Celtic Park Team for tonight - Forster Lustig Wilson Ambrose Izaguirre Brown Wanyama Ledley Commons Hooper Watt
Celtic 5-0 St.Johnstone Goals from Commons (hat-trick, his first for Celtic), Mulgrew and Hooper (who else) booked our passage through to the semi-final in a game we totally dominated (as you could probably work out from the score) A very impressive performance and the ideal reaction after the dismal failure of all involved on Saturday against Kilmarnock.
Celtic have a great chance of qualifying. They should be pretty confident about their ability to beat Spartak in Glasgow. Even if they lost the other two games that would leave Spartak or Benfica needing to win all their remaining games to overtake them.
Dundee Utd 2-2 Celtic (from the weekend) Another 2pts dropped, this time before a CL match. The shadow of CL matches are definitely impacting on our performances. NL made a few changes again and the amount of swapping around may also be unsettling the team slightly. Thomas Rogne made his first start of the season at CB only to succumb to injury after only 20mins. As did Emilio in the 2nd half. Miku came off the bench for Emilio and scored his first goal for the hoops. A well taken strike which was quickly doubled by another well taken goal, this time from the ever improving young Tony Watt. A 2 goal lead going into the 89th minute should have been more than enough to see us through but Utd pressed on and got one back before an unfortunate o.g. from Ambrose in injury time gave the home team a share of the spoils. Highlights below - http://www.101greatgoals.com/gvideos/dundee-united-2-celtic-2/