So we won the 1st leg at home last night 1-0 thanks to a late goal from Boyata. I can't comment on the match, I haven't seen it but I think it's a decent result. Not brilliant but good enough to have me believe we are in a reasonably good position to go through. No away goal conceded is a big bonus, as it always is in European football. I believe we can go there and score despite the fact we only got one last night. By all accounts it sounds like Qarabag set up to try and frustrate us, especially in the 2nd 45mins. They'll have to open up more at home. That'll give us the room we need to get the away goal. I'm not confident enough that we will leave with a clean sheet over in Baku so we will need that away goal to help ensure progression. I reckon we'll get it and get into the final play-off round.
Didn't see this match but it is good to get this past us......with all the talk of the pitch and the searing heat there, this had to be a potential banana peel for the club. Two legs from the big prize....a spot in the group stages......rumours are rampant that failure to reach the groups will lead to a sale of VVD and that would be a bit sad.
Really? I didn't get to see the match but Biton is getting plenty of love on the forums for his display.
malmo. they were the team i didn't want celtic to draw. i'd guess they're the toughest of the 5 teams possible.
on the flip side....probably the one they know (or can find out) the most about....likely easier on travel too.
Tom Rogic scoresss!!!!! quite a dexterous bit of work too, like a fly-by volley I guess you could call it
Another decent if unspectacular performance at the weekend. Nice to see another clean sheet being accrued. Hopefully we can carry this on into Wednesday evening.
It's good to see Rogic back. As long as he stays healthy, it's one other person that Ronny can go to other than Ambrose. To me, that's a good thing.
Well, they eliminated the losers from Red Bull (once again failing to qualify for the CL) ... however, I don't think the Swedish league is any better than the Austian one ... so it's surely no team that the Bhoys have to fear. I rate the chances by 50:50.
Got to agree. No intention to be disrespectful but, quite simply, if we can't beat Malmo in the final qualifier over two legs then we probably don't have any right to expect to be anywhere near the CL this season. I'm confident.
i don't disagree. my thought was that malmo was probably the toughest of the 5 teams possible, not that i follow them or the others at all.
Apologies, I wasn't paraphrasing your previous post but yes, my thought process is if we can't beat Malmo then consider what 6x CL group games would bring us. Nothing but misery I would imagine. I'd rather be in with a fighting chance in a Europa league group if that was the case. However, I do believe we will take care of business against Malmo which will then lead to a (slight) strengthening of the squad as Peter loosens the purse strings which will at least give us a fighting chance in a CL group (dependent on what type of group we find ourselves in).
That is the fan in you....and, yes, I agree that I would rather have a shot at winning something....but the club, as a business, would much rather be getting gubbed 6x in CL than being competitive in the EL
gotta get that money. what kind of payouts have celtic received for making the CL group stage the last few times? are we talking 20M or so? compared to 15Mish total if you WIN the EL?
I think the "perfect" money plan for Celtic is get to group stages....finish 3rd....go on and win the EL!
A tale of two halves then. I'm disappointed with the final result and that goal in particular but overall I feel we should have come out of that game with at least a 2 goal cushion. Maybe this will actually work in our favour though as I expect RD will focus on winning the 2nd leg rather than not losing it and I believe we have the quality to score in Sweden and progress to the group stages. Ideally we would invest in the team whilst still in the qualifying stage but I understand the difficulties in balancing the books (in fear of failure) and also convincing footballers to join the club before the group stage matches are actually guaranteed. Still feeling confident.
If you get a 2:0 lead after just 10 minutes and concede a last-second goal, there's definitely a reason to be disappointed. The more bitter that both goals of Malmö had been scored by a player which left Celtic Park not so long time ago. Malmö is obviously a strong home side, so it's suposedly gonna be a tough away match for the Bhoys. I'm not sure the defence is solid enough to go for a 0:0 draw (especially when facing Nicola Djurdjic, who always loves scoring against Celtic in his home games - last time in the dress of my local team Spvgg Fürth during a summer friendly) ... so let's hope the Hoops will try to achieve 1 or 2 away goals.
Good 3-1 win away to a Dundee Utd side this weekend that admittedly is struggling somewhat. Still, good to know we can rest the large majority of the team and still look convincing. Rogic looking good so far this season. Janko seems to be settling in well and a nice cameo debut for Scott Allan.
I suppose Deila has got to go? Can't give up 3 goals at home to Malmo. A real shame, Scottish Football needs a massive overhaul