Try beating Barcelona in a European final. Nottingham Forest have.
Good point. In fact, I don't think I've seen a team do a better job of neutralizing Messi, Xavi and Iniesta in a game than you guys did that day. You made them pretty much invisible.
No those stats are not legit, it was 72% to 28% .. and not that it matters, 2-1 was the final score .. people think Barcelona have a devine right to win and nobody dare put on a great defensive performance, not even that, we went forward whenever we could and played with 2 strikers.
Bushido, Forest, James etc why do you have a chip on your shoulder?
Celtic with a team costing less than £6m defeating Barcelona, they brought on £100m worth of substitutes, we brought on 18 year old Tony Watt from Airdrie. How can you not appreciate the result?
I was going to try and describe the match and the atmosphere, but no words can do it justice.
The most amazing European night I've ever been to, the best ever way to celebrate 125 years. Proving everybody wrong, this Celtic team is on to something special.
The best atmosphere I've witnessed. I am just so thankful for being a Celtic supporter.
And Barcelona are a class act as well. Some quotes
Tito: "The stadium was spectacular. I have been in many stadiums but never seen anything like it. I wish them many more years."
Xavi: "The atmosphere was wonderful, the way the fans support their team... It's an example for all other teams."
Pique: "No words to describe the atmosphere at Celtic Park"
Samaras wrote:No those stats are not legit, it was 72% to 28% .. and not that it matters, 2-1 was the final score .. people think Barcelona have a devine right to win and nobody dare put on a great defensive performance, not even that, we went forward whenever we could and played with 2 strikers.
Bushido, Forest, James etc why do you have a chip on your shoulder?
Celtic with a team costing less than £6m defeating Barcelona, they brought on £100m worth of substitutes, we brought on 18 year old Tony Watt from Airdrie. How can you not appreciate the result?
I was going to try and describe the match and the atmosphere, but no words can do it justice.
The most amazing European night I've ever been to, the best ever way to celebrate 125 years. Proving everybody wrong, this Celtic team is on to something special.
The best atmosphere I've witnessed. I am just so thankful for being a Celtic supporter.
And Barcelona are a class act as well. Some quotes
Tito: "The stadium was spectacular. I have been in many stadiums but never seen anything like it. I wish them many more years."
Xavi: "The atmosphere was wonderful, the way the fans support their team... It's an example for all other teams."
Pique: "No words to describe the atmosphere at Celtic Park"
Try beating Barcelona in a European final. Nottingham Forest have.
Good point. In fact, I don't think I've seen a team do a better job of neutralizing Messi, Xavi and Iniesta in a game than you guys did that day. You made them pretty much invisible.
Nobody is taking it away from celtic, it was a good result.
I think people are taking the wrong end of the stick, yes they won. The point is more the quality of the side Barca had out, which is a fair enough point. Of course, any of the sides they put out is going to have more quality, even with so many key players missing. But celtic obviously had the bigger desire. Barca have qualified, they ain't going to lose their remaining 2 or 3 games, whatever it is. They obviously took their foot off the gas and didn't expect to be troubled. Sometimes, desire is bigger than quality on the night. I can accept it was a good result, I have no bitterness. People talking about anti-football, of course. What did you expect? Had they attacked, Barca would have annihilated them pure and simple. But they took their chance from a set-piece and defended that lead, then hit on the break. Barca were always going to dominate the stats, yes they had nearly 5 times the attempts and 90% possession, but as a fan of the opposing team, you just have to accept that. Unless you have the quality, which nobody does. As I've already said, despite the side Barca had to field, celtic still had the desire.
Well done, a good attempt at being honest Templeton, but remember Celtic had key players out as well
Captain Scott Brown Main goalscorer Gary Hooper Emilio Izaguirre James Forrest
They would all start
The anti-football thing is annoying. Give credit to Celtic scoring twice, Barcelona couldn't stop Celtic scoring, Celtic stopped Barcelona. It was not anti football at all. Guillem Balague is fair with his analysis
Yes, Celtic played one of the ways to beat Barcelona. And beat them (two different things. Far too often people analyze games from results. It is better to do it from performances. In this case, both coincide in their possitive outcome). They gave Barcelona the wings, surrounded Messi that had to play wide, were compact and attacked in the spaces behind the full backs. That, my friends, is tactics, strategy, football!! Never mind that anti football tag that some people are applying to Celtic...
having said that... di Stefano used to say that to build a building you need five years in University and hard work. To defend, only a hammer. And I agree with that. It is much harder to attack and find new ways to surprise opposition than what Celtic did. Both legitimate, but I would prefer week in and week out my team to play like Barcelona. It doesnt take anything away from Celtic, it just puts it all in perspective.
And, finally, to question the Barcelona style is ridiculous. Completely. What I question is the application of that style. Now there is not enough collective work, too much individual efforts and that goes against their style, makes it worse. Despite the stats, and as I have been saying all season, Pep's Barcelona has died and Tito's is simply not as good. They will win things, but they will not change football about 3 hours ago
I'll say it again, Celtic's team last night cost less than £6m. Once clubs like Celtic are on a financially level playing field to Barcelona, then we can deal in the aesthetics of how the game should be played. For now just look at the scale of that 2-1 win for Celtic.
Chip on my shoulder? I made one post in this thread regarding the style of play and that wasn't actually aimed at Celtic, but if you want something...
You played even more defensive than the average away team AT HOME. Barely any teams do this, even league 2 teams at home to Premier League clubs don't play 8-1-1 formations. You just got incredibly lucky.
As a certain famous person said, luck is for losers. Being lucky is not something to be proud of, it is impossible to achieve something and be genuinely proud of anything via luck.
I congratulate Celtic on actually playing a midfield this time though, even if it did consist of one player.