It’s not often that Celtic are the visitors to Balmoral but that’s exactly what is happening on Sunday afternoon as Fran Alonso takes his exciting Celtic FC Women side up to the North East to play newly promoted SWPL2 Champions Aberdeen at the Balmoral Stadium. The match is live on BBC Alba on Sunday afternoon with a 4.10pm kick-off and if you are in the area you can also attend the match, details below re tickets etc.
Alonso is a class act, an experienced coach in both the men’s and women’s game at the highest levels, he has created something special with this group of players and goes into the new season full of optimism, while of course playing his usual mind-games reminding the likes of Glasgow City and big spending theRangers that his Celtic side remain the underdogs as far the the title race is concerned. You believing that? Nope, me neither.
The SPWL League Cup Group stages were negotiated without any difficulty and the reward is a quarter final draw away to theRangers later next month, where Alonso will be looking ti extend his winning run against the city rivals.
🏆 #CelticFC Women have drawn away to Rangers in the quarter-finals of the #SWPLCup. The tie will be played on 31 October, with further details TBC #COYGIG 🍀 pic.twitter.com/3NMfz1IB3Q
— Celtic FC Women (@CelticFCWomen) August 30, 2021
Ultimately there was less joy in terms of the results the two Champions League matches played in Norway. Two defeats to Levante and FC Minsk were tempered by the quality of the Celtic performances in both matches, coupled with not one but two stunning goals that were are good as you’ll see in football anywhere, at any level this season. Alonso’s appetite has been whetted for more Champions League endeavours and the job of getting there starts at Balmoral on Sunday.
WHAT. A. GOAL. 😍
🍀 Izzy Atkinson with an incredible solo run who squares it to Rachel Donaldson to equalise for @CelticFCWomen #MINCEL pic.twitter.com/1p1DjuuSlj
— Premier Sports (@PremierSportsTV) August 21, 2021
“I can’t wait,” Alonso admitted. “It’s been a long pre-season with some cup games and the amazing UCL experience in between. We’ve got high expectations for the league this season, and we’ll do our very best. We know how amazing getting that reward of Champions League is so we’ll try to fight for it as much as we can.
“Last year saw us as the third horse in a two-horse race, but we managed to finish second. This year, the team is stronger, and everyone expects us to do better,” Alonso told Joe Donnelly, at Celtic View reporting on the official Celtic website. “On paper, I still see us as third-favourites, but we work very, very hard, we have a never-say-die mentality that saw us win a lot of league games last season, especially in the dying minutes, and this year won’t be any different.”
Looking back with a huge amount of pride to his team’s Champions League debut Alonso revealed what he told his players after running Spanish side Levante so close in the 2-1 defeat. “I said to the girls that if we can compete against Levante, then we can compete against anyone. They are a super team, an incredible talent, and the fact that they were calling for the referee to blow the whistle near the end of the game was the biggest complement to us. Levante have senior internationalists who play with Spain, one of the best teams in the world, and we’ll learn from the whole experience.
TADHAL! ⚽️
GOAL FOR CELTIC! ⚽️ They’re back in the game!! pic.twitter.com/9R7OfEUJYa
— BBC ALBA (@bbcalba) August 18, 2021
‘I was so proud of the girls and the fans. The support from the fans has been amazing, and it’s grown even in my team here. Not just on social media, but in the streets as well’
“The fans saw us be successful, with a young team, who fought hard and I think the fans identified with our values and attitude.
“Last year, we’d never experienced the Champions League, we’d never been, but now that we’ve experienced it, we’re hungry and we want to be there at the end of this year. It’s going to be very difficult, it is going to be a battle between a few teams, but we want it. We really want it.”
Ticketing info for this Sunday’s trip to Aberdeen 👇 https://t.co/sN0DiHP9Qm
— Celtic FC Women (@CelticFCWomen) September 2, 2021
#SWPL | The 2021/22 @SWPL season gets underway this Sunday and there's live action on @bbcalba 📺
The SWPL 2 Champions, @AberdeenFC, welcome SWPL 1 runners-up, @CelticFCWomen, to the Balmoral Stadium.
Here's the details ⬇ pic.twitter.com/EqJM5VqF07
— Scottish Women's Premier League (@SWPL) September 2, 2021
