Tomorrow night Celtic take on Feyenoord in Rotterdam in the opening game of our Champions League group campaign. The Dutch Champions, although not the biggest pot one side we could have drawn, are still a formidable side.
Arne Slot’s side have hit 17 goals in their last three league outings. They are clearly a threat in attack and although they will be missing a couple of key strikers, they will still be a dangerous opponent for Celtic. We of course have a woeful away record in Europe this century. Celtic certainly don’t travel well and it’s something we need to rectify.
Brendan’s European record in his last spell was very average to say the least, particularly away from home. We had good results like the 1-1 draw at the Etihad and the same scoreline against Monchengladbach in Germany, plus a wonderful 3-0 victory in Anderlecht, but in the main like so many managers before, we under-performed on our travels. This is most likely down to Brendan’s attacking philosophy, where much like Ange Postecoglou, he has his footballing principles.
But maybe this time around, and as a more experienced manager who has been over the course and distance in the Champions League Group stages managing Celtic, he will this time around adapt his tactics and look at being a wee bit more cautious, especially against talented attacking sides such as Feyenoord?
Remember in that pre-season friendly in Dublin after Kyogo gave us the lead against Wolves. Celtic seemed to change our tactics to sit in and pick Wolves off and as a result we ended up getting numerous chances to increase our lead by hitting them with lightning fast counterattacks. Sadly none were taken that day and poor finishing has been a feature of Celtic in the Champions League, most recently in last season’s campaign whee big chances were passed up in all six games, including of course a missed penalty against Real Madrid.
We can still play attacking football but keep it tight at the back at the same time. It’s something Brendan will have pondered on as he will want to make his mark in the tournament with Celtic.
Brendan is a much more experienced individual than he was during his last spell in charge. Maybe he’s learnt his lesson and has a more secure plan for European competition? One way or another we are going to find out Tomorrow night.
Just an Ordinary Bhoy
READ THIS…Watch Celtic winning 3-1 in Rotterdam against Feyenoord
The unrealistic expectations of some fans is quite staggering!
Of course we all want to win the Champions League!
But get your heads out of your butts! It isn’t going to happen.
Those days are long gone.
What we should be seriously looking for is good performances against higher rated clubs who are stronger opponents from stronger leagues. Picking up points at home as we did in the past and while obviously going in aiming for a win in every game, and a first place finish, making a real run at second, being satified with good performances even if they mean third or even fourth place.
We are after all the team from pot 4 for good reason!
Get behind the Bhoys from the start and remember the old saying, “we don’t care if we win lose or draw, just as long as we know, that we only know that there’s going to be a show and the Glasgow Celtic will be there”.
We are there because we are Scotland’s biggest club, Scotland’s ONLY big club!
Hail Hail