A Night Never To Forget For Celtic

by Dugald Skene

Celtic   2 - 1   Barcelona

The moons, the planets and the stars all seemed to align over Parkhead last night as Celtic recorded one of the finest results in their history by beating Barcelona, probably the best team of the last 5 years and possibly one of the best teams to grace the modern era of football.

In the run up to the match, there was a lot of hesitant optimism among Celtic fans, knowing that it couldn't just be fate that had brought the world's best footballing team to Glasgow in the same week Celtic celebrate their 125th anniversary.

Fans always knew that their team would provide a challenge, but would most likely have their backs to the wall for huge portions of the game and following the match in Barcelona a fortnight earlier, they had experience of seeing the visiting team's ability to strike at any point, almost at will.  Could Celtic really turn the tables?

It would take a perfect storm for the result to go the way of Celtic, but that's exactly what happened.

From the outset Parkhead was in a celebratory mood, displaying a stadium wide banner hailing the club's 125 year history as the teams emerged from the tunnel.  The traditional Champion's League theme was inaudible under the huge sustained roar of the fans.  The atmosphere was electric, and it would never waned over the entire duration of the game.

Celtics celebratory display before the game

The match started in predictable enough form, the home team immediately having to defend as Barcelona traded passes amongst themselves, scoping out the home team.  Celtic were rigid and organised, clearly well drilled.  Barcelona set up with their usual formation, pinning two men out on the side lines in an effort to stretch the defence.  For Celtic, the key was for wingers and full backs to be in complete unison, ensuring every overlap was covered.  Not one beat was missed.

It could be said that Barcelona's overriding advantage in skill also contributed to their eventual downfall.  With midfielder Alex Song the only man around the 6 feet tall mark, there was a reluctance to provide crosses from the wide areas.  Instead, they zipped the ball around, often showing phenomenal class in their touch, constantly moving the point of attack and creating space through exceptional movement.

After 20 minutes, there was a rare moment of relief as Celtic broke into the Barcelona half, earning a corner on Barcelona's left side.  Charlie Mulgrew, the man who delivered the exceptional ball to get Celtic's away goal in the Nou camp, delivered a fast, deep cross swinging in towards the back post where Victor Wanyama, having run on to the full back from the edge of the box, climbed highest to power a header in at his near post.  Celtic were 1-0 up, and the stadium went wild.

Just as they had been in Barcelona, Celtic were in the lead midway through the first half, against all expectations.

Barcelona, almost unperturbed by the Celtic goal, continued as they had but a few minutes before, laying siege to Fraser Forster's goal.  Messi skiffed the ball off the top of the crossbar as he found a free yard of space in the box.  Minutes later, Barcelona surprised the home defence again, this time by crossing the ball for the first time, finding striker Alexis making the leap to head the ball back across Forster only to see it rebound off the outside of the far post and out for a goal kick.

Celtic were shaking slightly and the memory of losing a goal late in the half in the first game must have been prevalent in the minds of the players - it certainly was for the fans as the ardent clock watching started with 5 minutes of the half remaining.  If Celtic could see out the half with the lead intact, it would be an improvement on a fortnight earlier, a night which saw small margins steal a valuable result away from them.

Half time indeed eventually came to rapturous applause, borne more out of relief for many as they saw their side retreat to the tunnel to regroup.  The questions then started.  Surely not? What if?  The first half had seen Celtic have one chance against the 9 accumulated by Barcelona.  The possession stats told a similar story as the home team claimed only 11% of the ball for themselves. They couldn't hold out for another 45 minutes, right?

The start of the second half saw Celtic start brightly.  Getting to half time with the lead had clearly given a shot in the arm and there was clear intent for the opening few minutes.  Centre backs Efe Ambrose and Kelvin Wilson were constantly looking to push the defensive line out after each wave of pressure had been absorbed.  There was an awareness that they couldn't sit deep for the duration - they would accept the pressure, but they weren't going to invite it.

The second half had settled when Celtic manager Neil Lennon made his first change, a forced substitution that saw right back Lustig come of with a leg strain to be replaced by 18 year old striker Tony Watt.  It meant Charlie Mulgrew slipped back to centre half, Ambrose out to right back and lone striker Georgios Samaras drop back into a midfield position.

The change solidified the back four but unsettled the midfield as Samaras failed to follow his man on a couple of occasions, allowing the likes of Xavi, Iniesta and Messi to expose more space than they had seen at any time in the game.  Lennon reacted again, taking Samaras, captain for the night, off for Beram Kayal, the Israeli terrier and out-and-out midfielder.  Along with the outstanding Wanyama and Joe Ledley, balance was restored in the middle of the park for the home team.

Never had it seemed a football match had taken so long to play out.  70 minutes, 75 minutes, 80 minutes, each landmark seemed hours apart as the away side continued to press and create chances.  For all the shots that went wide or over the bar, much to the relief of the home support, there were as many heading goalwards.  Celtic goalkeeper Fraser Forster stood up to every single one, producing 4 or 5 outstanding saves through the duration of the game.  Catalan sports magazine 'Mundo Deportivo' would later describe him as 'La Gran Muralla' - The Great Wall.

In the 84th minute Fraser Forster had his hands on the ball once again.  His tired launch of the ball carried it just over the halfway line where Barcelona captain Xavi miscued his control, seeing the ball instead bounce right through him and into the path of Tony Watt.  Javier Mascherano, having not been turned once by Samaras, was caught off balance as Watt's drop of the shoulder bought him the yard of space he needed, taking one touch to control and his second to coolly slot the ball past Victor Valdes.

The unthinkable was happening.  Celtic were leading Barcelona 2-0 with 5 minutes to play and the 59,000 home fans were euphoric.

Tony Watt (32) scores Celtic's second goal

It could have been three 2 minutes later as Tony Watt again stripped Mascherano with power and pace only to be pulled down by the Argentine as he was through on goal.  The referee let play go on as the Celtic fans pleaded for the red card that never came.

But the fans were still in party mode as the fourth official held up the board indicating 4 minutes would be added.  4 minutes to hold out, that was all.

It took all of 30 seconds of that time for Barcelona to strike.  It was the first time that they had strung together the short, tight, fast passes for which they are so famed. Xavi, Iniesta, Villa with the shot, saved low to Forster's left side but parried only as far as a poaching Lionel Messi who duly knocked in the rebound.

I'm not sure I've experienced a more tense 3 and a half minutes in any sporting arena as those that then followed.  Barcelona weaved two or three more phases as the tired Celtic defence did everything they could to repel them, eventually clearing it to half way for a throw in.  A couple of passes later and it was all over as the whistle was blown for full time. 

Celtic had done it.  They had beaten Barcelona.  All the tension was released and like a coiled spring, the stadium exploded.

I'm not sure I'll likely experience anything like it again, the sense of occasion being rubber stamped by a victory over one of the greatest.

As a stand alone night and result, it was one of the very best.  In the context of the competition, it propels Celtic into a position of control over their own destiny.  Benfica's win over Spartak Moscow means that Celtic hold a 3 point advantage over 3rd place, and sit 2 behind Barcelona.  Whatever happens now is down to them, but there is no doubt that everyone in that stadium, players and fans alike, will remember the night they beat Barcelona.


Stand out players:

Fraser Forster - Celtic's keeper was outstanding all night, rightfully earning him the Man of the Match award.  He'll be disappointed not to have kept a clean sheet.

Victor Wanyama - The midfielder was in imperious form, and deserves all the plaudits he will no doubt receive.  Barcelona's Xavi & Iniesta will be having nightmares for the next few nights.

Adam Matthews - Calm and collected, he combined well with Charlie Mulgrew as a defensive partnership. Never put a foot wrong all night.

Joe Ledley - The silent but no less effective partner to Wanyama, Ledley chased everything all night - a prolific work rate.

Tony Watt - At 18 years old, he has everything ahead of him. For 30 minutes, he was nothing but a pest to the visting defence and finished wonderfully to win it for Celtic.


Some post match quotes:

"Unlucky we lost even I think we played well. Happy to be back. No words to describe the atmosphere at Celtic Park"

Gerard Pique, Barcelona defender

"Quite simply the greatest game I have ever been involved in"

Kris Commons, Celtic midfielder

"Greatest moment of my life! We have just beaten the best team ever!"

Joe Ledley, Celtic midfielder

"Congratulations to Celtic FC for well-earned victory a day after their 125th anniversary"

FC Barcelona Twitter account

 

 

"What an unbelievable result for Neil Lennon and all at Celtic. Only Lisbon beats it. The noise was deafening."

Kenny Dalgleish

What Now For Chelsea And Their Playboys?

by Dugald Skene

After 8 years and goodness knows how many hundreds of millions of rubles, Abramovich has finally got what he wants – Champions League glory for his playtoy Chelsea.  Could he ever have expected it to happen this year of all years?

Given the league form and the managerial turmoil at Stamford Bridge over the course of the season, probably not, but that’s football, right? So many have been talking about the so called ‘script’ of the season, plots and sub-plots that have culminated in the greatest victory in the club’s history but the fact is that Chelsea managed to win it with some inspirational performances, if not inspiring football.

Above all these things though, the most surprising thing for me was that they managed to do it less as a team and more as a collective of narcissistic playboys.

I won’t deny any sportsman or woman their time to celebrate the high points of their careers, but the reaction of some of the players following the penalty shootout win over Bayern Munich, in Munich, told us all a lot about the attitude of many of the players in the Chelsea camp and emphasised the reasons why so many can’t warm to them.

Chelsea lift the Champions League trophy. Where's John Terry?

I certainly don’t grudge Chelsea their win, but I cringed at times watching some of the players behave after Didier Drogba’s winning penalty.  You almost forgive the man himself given we are so used to his antics in the past.  He is annoying, but he always has been and we have come to expect it from him over the years.  It was maybe the players we hear less from that seemed to come over as arrogant, petulant, childish and down right rude when either on the podium awaiting the trophy lifting or being interviewed by the press.

Without going into what was actually shaved into the back of his head, Salomon Kalou came across as one of the worst – his bare chested jostling for position in front of Frank Lampard and the trophy itself during the presentation was embarrassing.

There are many more that I could go about – Ashley Cole, John Obi Mikel, Branislav Ivanovich et al – but the out-and-out most shameful display of them all came from captain John Terry.

Having been banned from playing in the final, Terry was consigned to watching from the touchline, although this didn’t stop him wearing his full strip under a training top which was so swiftly removed at the end as he ran on to the pitch in an attempt to at least appease himself that he contributed  in some way to the final win.

Whatever you think of UEFA’s decision to allow Terry to be presented the trophy, despite the ban (as was the case for Essien, Meireles, Ivanovich & Ramires who were all suspended for the showpiece game), there was a quiet satisfaction evident on the social networks when Terry was mostly blocked from view when the trophy was actually lifted.

I may sound bitter, but I’m not wholly against this Chelsea team.  I thought Frank Lampard handled the victory and ensuing celebrations with the manner you would expect from the captain.  He spoke well when interviewed and appeared humble by what had transpired over the previous couple of hours.  Petr Cech, veteran goalkeeper and long term stalwart for Chelsea also came over well.  Gary Cahill clearly acknowledged that he had found himself in a fortunate position.  Having played better than most in the final, you would have forgiven him for going mad at the final but he seemed to retire from the most fervent celebrations, instead realising how fortunate he had been having being playing for a struggling Bolton side only 6 months previously.

So what now for Chelsea? 

I can’t help but get the feeling that major change is about to happen at the Bridge.  Key players like Drogba and Lampard are now very much in the twilight of their careers and in the case of Drogba, may look to cash in elsewhere for a couple of years with interest from China and elsewhere in the Ivorian man’s talent.  Reports are rife at the moment about Fernando Torres’ future and whether he will be there next season.  He says he has been ‘mistreated’ during his time at Chelsea and is saying all the things a player does when he wants out.

And then there is the Abramovich factor.  What next for him? What is left for him to achieve with this team he has bought and paid for for nearly a decade? With 3 league titles, 4 FA cups and now the big one in the bag, what are his realistic aspirations for the club now?  With the kind of money he has, what are the unrealistic aspirations he has for Chelsea?

So much of Chelsea’s future depends on the whim and fancy of one man and if I were a Chelsea fan, I’d be pretty worried now that the dust has started to settle.

I am notoriously bad at predicting anything when I put it black and white on this blog, but I’ll stick my neck out and suggest that Chelsea might find themselves in a spot of bother over the next 2 or 3 years.  It all depends on the aspirations of Abramovich and where he wants to see his team go.  If it’s European domination, a new stadium at Battersea and a dream of further improvement, he’ll stick around.  But let’s not bank on it.

Chelsea Reach Final Against All Odds

by Dugald Skene

It's a funny old game.

Whatever the game was that inspired those words, it surely wasn't as dramatic, incident packed and downright thrilling as last night’s Champions League semi-final second leg between holders and tournament favourites Barcelona and Chelsea. The result was a draw, the fourth consecutive time Chelsea have achieved that at the Camp Nou, but it was enough to see Chelsea through after their first leg victory.

Frank Lampard leads celebrations after Chelsea's victory

The score is incidental in many ways.  What happened on the pitch was extraordinary.

The first 15 minutes saw both Chelsea’s Gary Cahill (hamstring) and Barcelona’s Gerard Pique (head knock) taken off after separate incidents.  With one half of the Londoner’s centre pairing gone and the only legitimate centre half from Barca’s back 3 gone, there was suddenly opportunity on both sides to expose the gaps.  Bosingwa joined at right back, pushing Ivanovic in to cover with John Terry, while Pep Guardiola replaced Pique with Dani Alves, pushing the vertically challenged Javier Mascherano in as the central figure in a lightweight defence.

With the vast majority of defending to do in the game, as they expected, the reshuffle was always a bigger blow for Chelsea.  Cahill had been a stalwart at the heart of defence and was creating a strong partnership with Terry.

Down 1-0 from a week ago, at home and with most of the 90,000+ crowd behind them, Barca had their customary 70% possession and started to assert themselves on Chelsea.  The defensive resolve almost inevitably broke when surprise inclusion Isaac Cuenca popped upon the left hand side to thread a ball along the 6 yard line, behind Messi, behind Xavi but knocked in by Sergio Busquets at the far post.  1-1 in the tie and Barca were in the driving seat.  When Busquets scores his 2^nd goal in 2 years, you know things might be going against you.

It seemed almost inescapable that they would kick on, and those fears for Chelsea fans became all the more real when minutes later Lionel Messi slipped through a tidy pass to Andres Iniesta who calmly stroked the ball past Petr Cech.  2-0 on the night, 2-1 aggregate.

With 5 minutes until half time, it already looked improbable for Chelsea but in a moment of madness, captain John Terry decided to make things a whole lot worse for his team in a phenomenal display of stupidity as he raised his knee, striking Alexis Sanchez in the lower back, completely off the ball.

Not spotted by the Turkish referee, the linesman advised on the appropriate action and soon the red card was out.  Nobody saw the incident in real time, but replays revealed the enormity of Terry’s inanity.  It was the correct call.  2-1 down and down to 10 men.  Could it get any worse for Chelsea?

Well, no. Somehow, things took a turn.  Just as you expected Barcelona to capitalise on their man advantage, it was Chelsea who broke free, the excellent Frank Lampard sending through the fantastic Ramires who calmly and nonchalantly chipped Victor Valdes to put Chelsea back in front on aggregate just before half time.

The second half was always going to be about whether Chelsea’s 10 men could hold out for the win. They did themselves no favours when within the first 2 minutes of the restart, Didier Drogba brought down Cesc Fabregas in the box.  There was minimal contact and Fabregas certainly made the best of it, taking a leaf from Drogba’s own book.  The game was over now, right?

Wrong.  Messi inexplicably missed the resultant penalty kick, striking the crossbar.  The pivotal moment in the game, and suddenly you started to wonder if it was Chelsea’s night after all.  With 40 minutes to play, it still seemed so unlikely.

It’s not often that we get a chance to criticise Barcelona’s brand of football, but the second half last night provided plenty of evidence to suggest that they are a bit more one dimensional than you might think, and certainly when their backs are to the wall, they start to run out of ideas.  With the likes of Messi, Xavi and Iniesta, we all expect magic to happen, goals to come from nowhere and unlimited creativity.  It just didn’t happen.  I lost count of the number of times Xavi, permanently fixed in the ‘quarterback’ position just outside the D of Chelsea’s penalty box, would spread it out to the right to Dani Alves who not once put a creditable cross into the box.

With the minutes ticking away, the neutrals amongst us started to think that Chelsea might just do it. In the final moments of the game, it was replacement and much maligned striker Torres who had the final say of the game as he picked up a speculative Ashley Cole clearance with only Valdes between him and the goal and acres of space in which to run.  Given his form for Chelsea, nothing was a given, but he duly rounded the helpless Barca keeper and netted the finish.  Game over. Chelsea are in the UEFA Champions League Final.

 

As spectacular a result as it was, it has come at a price.  Bookings for Ramires, Meireles, Ivanovic and the red for John Terry all mean they will miss the final.  With Terry in particular will be distraught after his 2008 final experience as we won’t have the opportunity to make amends.  But as mentioned, he made his bed and despite his ridiculous halftime claim that it was accidental and Sanchez backed into him, he finally came to his senses after realising it was all caught on camera.  

So who will face Chelsea in the final?  Few would bet against a tasty match up with Real Madrid and former coach Jose Mourinho, but Real have it all to do tonight against Bayern Munich to make that happen. 

Whatever happens, Chelsea’s achievements in Barcelona will go down in folklore, and rightly so.  They have knocked off one of the greatest teams in living memory and if they can do that, who knows what might happen in Munich in May.

Magic Messi Does It Again

by Dugald Skene

Last night, Lionel Messi once again showed that he is the best player of his generation and possibly ever as he scored a record 5 goals in Barcelona's Champion's League match against Bayer Leverkusen.

There are things that are so hard to explain about Messi, he simply makes the game look effortless.  What's more, he appears so humble and takes it all in his stride, remarkable considering he is still only 24. 

Messi scored 5 in Barcelona's 7-1 win

He has now scored almost 50 goals in 64 UCL appearances and at this rate will eclipse the likes of Raul in the coming seasons.  His fifth goal last night meant he has now scored 50 for club and country this season. 50!  Is it me, or is it only the beginning of March?

So many superlatives have been thrown out there to describe the Argentinian maestro, his abilities, records and talent.  I won't try to add to them but I will recall an interview that Ronaldinho gave during the height of his powers at the Catalan club in around 2005/6.  When asked if he was the best player in the world, he simply responded with "I'm not even the best player at Barcelona".

He was of course referring to the great Lionel Messi.

AVB On Shaky Ground At Chelsea

Andre Villas Boas has come under renewed criticism for his team selection following Chelsea’s 3-1 defeat in Napoli last night.  As well as Fernando Torres, he left out Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard and Michael Essien from the starting 11, 3 of the most experienced and senior players in the changing room.

Was he trying to prove a point?  Is he trying to show he has control of the changing room by dropping stalwart players?  All this comes after a weekend where it was alleged that Dider Drogba gave the halftime talk, something AVB dismissed as ‘ridiculous’ and which has since been refuted by Drogba himself.  But there isn’t smoke without fire.

Andre Villa Boas is on very shaky ground at Chelsea

Chelsea have now won only 3 of the last 11 games, a record that doesn't sit well with players or the owner who are used to better, much better.  While AVB continues to concentrate the long term project he is developing at Chelsea, there is no doubt he is trying it at a club where the owner is notoriously impatient and who demands instant results. 

Some may argue that Abramovich would have already got rid of AVB by now, and that he must be persuaded in some way by the Portuguese man’s vision for the club.  In any case, if things continue as they are, surely the owners patience will crack and something will give.  The key point may be the return leg against Napoli at Stamford Bridge.  If Chelsea fail to go through, which is far from certain, that just may be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.

Winners & Losers - 12/12/2011

Welcome to what will hopefully be the first weekly(ish) rundown of all the winners and losers in the world of sport over the past week.
So without further ado, let's start with this week's winners.

Winners

Martin O'Neill - It's been a great week for Sunderland and their newly installed manager O'Neill, who came from behind to beat Blackburn at the Stadium of Light to give Sunderland only their third win of the season.  Can O'Neill take this on and lead Sunderland up the Premiership table?

Martin O'Neill - 59 years young

The RFU - Much to my dismay, it's been a good week at English Rugby HQ.  After a torrid few weeks following the World Cup, some positive news came with the announcement of the interim coaching team of Stuart Lancaster, Graham Rowntree and Saracens first-team coach Andy Farrell for the 6 Nations.  On the face of it, it appears to be a savvy appointment from the RFU and one that is a win-win for Lancaster.  Let's just hope the Scots knock them off their perch come the 4th February!

Tim Tebow - 'The Big Tebowski' did it again, leading the Denver Broncos to an overtime victory over the resilient Chicago Bears, giving replacement QB Tebow a 7-1 record as a starter this season, and giving Denver an 8-5 record and a chance of getting to the playoffs with 3 games to go of the regular season.


Losers

Manchester Utd and Manchester City - Both clubs failed to make it out of the Champions League group stages - a first for City in their first appearance in the competition and the first time for United since 2005.  Going into this week's games, Man City had to rely on Napoli's result at the pointless Villareal, hoping the Italians would draw or lose but the odds were always stacked against them.  United, on the other hand, needed to avoid defeat at Basel, only becasue their own home form had meant that they had to rely on securing away points to progress.  Both teams must be looked at as firm favourites for the Europa League now.

Nemanja Vidic - To rub salt into the very raw European wound for Man Utd, it was confirmed that Nemanja Vidic will be out for the remainder of the season after suffering knee ligiament damage against FC Basel.

Jim Mallinder - The Northampton rugby boss saw his showboating winger Chris Ashton handed a 4 match ban for dragging Leicester man Alesana Tuilagi off the pitch by his hair, or in the words of the disciplinary committee "an act contrary to good sportsmanship".  Compounded with European Cup knockout misery and talk of Ashton's departure at the end of the season, maybe Mallinder is seeing the full time English coach role a bit more appealing?


Mark Allen - it could have so easily been an excellent week for the Northern Irishman as he reached his first ranking final at the UK Snooker Championships in York.  Instead, not only did he lose the final to the fantastically named Judd Trump (despite a fine 141 break in the 3rd frame), but he has been called in by the snooker authorities for his use of some select language when criticising the head of snooker Barry Hearn.