The Celtic v Barcelona game was on the TV this morning...



Celtic were absolutely terrible in the first half - Barcelona are by far the
better team, but it was more than that. Celtic looked nervous & nothing they
tried seemed to work. They sat off Barca & gave them the opportunity to play,
Big mistake. It was looking very much like a mis-match & I must admit, as much
as I love The Hoops - it was embarrassing. Deco scored in the 20th minute & by
half time Celtic were lucky not to be 3-4 goals down.

The second half was a different story. Juninho hadn't really been in the game and
Martin O'Neill changed him for Chris Sutton. The impact was immediate. The Bhoys
started to get a hold on the game only to concede a penalty when Jackie McNamara
fell on top of Guily; when Ronaldinho stepped up to take the kick the game looked
to be very much over as a contest - but David Marshall guessed the right side & made
a superb one handed save to keep Celtic in the game. Constant pressure paid off and
on 59 minutes Chris Sutton acrobatically stretched beyond a barca defender to slam
the ball into the onion bag. A 20 minute period of pressure seen Petrov come close &
Celtic were unnerving the Spanish side who looked like they might settle for a draw.

To break the continuity of the Celtic pressure, Frank Rijkaard played his trump card &
introduced Henrik Larsson. There were a few boo's but the resounding response to the
introduction of Larsson was for the Parkhead crowd to break into a deafening rendition
of The Celtic Song - For it's a grand old team to play for...

For me, it was one of the highlights of the match. Larsson, as might be expected, looked
less than comfortable but still managed to set up Guily for Barca's second goal - which
took a cruel deflection off jackie McNamara. McNamara's studs caught the turf & it
looked as though he had broken his ankle - turned out to be ligament damage, but he will
still be out for 4-6 weeks. A weak headed backpass from Alan Thompson was snatched
up by Larsson, who rounded Marshall & scored Barca's third. No celebration from HL
which was a nice show of respect to his ex clubmates & the Parkhead faithful. Although
it's sickening to see HL score against The Hoops, it's a situation that neither will relish &
what were the odds of meeting Barcelona in the CL? Anyway, put away the
'King of Kings' banners & get behind the current players.

From a pessimistic point of view - Celtic looked outclassed, under staffed & at times
bereft of any idea's. Lack of concentration led to 3 fairly soft goals. The sense of
occasion seemed to get the better of them & they looked like the away team
rather than the home side.

On a positive note - they conceded only the one goal in the first half & rode 45 minutes
of constant Barcelona pressure. Big improvement in the second half, Marshall saving the
penalty, Sutton's equaliser & for 20 minutes or so they looked like they might even nick
a win - with a draw looking likely.

Tuesday nights game is now history. Lessons must surely be learned & addressed by the
time The Hoops visit The San Siro. In the meantime, lets get the goals flowing when we
visit the Leith San Siro on Sunday.

Man of the match - The Parkhead Faithful for the singing lesson...