Will we ever be able to compete?

With regards to europe, after watching Barcelona v Real Madrid last night and Porto v Villarreal tonight it seems that diving is such a big part of the game that i dont think celtic can compete.

Dont get me wrong, on a purely football level i feel our current team would be a great match for the two teams playing tonight in the semi final of the europa league, but one thing that stands out in these games is the amount of players that con the referees which i feel will always go against us in europe because celtic are not a team that do this

 

Diving is ruining the game. Barcelona are amongst the worst for it. Any slight tackle and the whole team is around the referee. I'm glad we have a bit more class than that.

 

I think Stokes would disagree mate :icon_mrgreen:

 

Sadly it seems to be working for a lot of teams, we all remember eduardo against us last year, i love barca and im glad they won last night but some of the players rolling on the ground and pressuring the ref into decisions is a disgrace. Thank * for wee Messi though

 

true that was a joke by stokesy..not from the penalty that was actually given but the time he was booked for diving, especially since he could have ran on!

still though its nothing compared to some of these spanish, italian, portuguese teams

 

Diving......

 

Not in the Champions League unless theres a miracle and we bring through a couple of world class players at once we'll never get further than the last 16 probably as we'll never win the Group and will always get a good team in the next round.

We could probably win the Europea League at some time though as its more our level.

 

This

 

its steadily getting worse imo and if eufa dont start doing something about it soon,football will become all about who can dive and con the ref the best.
eufa need to start dishing out bans on video evidence to stop these players spoiling the game

 

Doubt it!

 

* real and barca, u seen the way porto are playing, think we need to get to that standard in europe before thinking of anything else.
Also think we could beat and hold some of the big teams like we've done before but never go out and win 3-0 etc.

 

THIS SHOULD BE GOOD FOR THE PORTUGAL CO-OFFICIENT RANKINGS

ps: didnt mean caps

 

The Italians, Portugese and Spanish have never been the most physical teams, I'm sure we all remember Seville. British football is just more physical, so I guess you could say we can make up for it on that level.

 

If its an all Portugese final (very likely now) then they have a good chance of going above France to become the 5th highest nation.

 

I'm sorry to say this - because I hate diving.

But we need to start doing it in Europe otherwise we don't stand a chance.

 

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We can stay true to ourselves, and play fair, or instruct the more frail players(Samaras, Stokes and even Ki) to scream * murder when they are fouled.

 

Agree it's getting worse but thought the Ref in the Man U Shalke game was best I've seen in ages. He let the game flow and didn't keep blowing for the slightest touch. He showed it can be overcome but refs need to be stronger IMO.

 

We never need to dive. What needs to happen is that UEFA needs to ensure that their refs call players for diving. Set them on edge, I don't care. I miss the days of watching Henrik fight through a tackle to score, rather than just falling down.

With that said, I think the tackle on Alves, regardless of his acting afterward, was probably a red card. That kind of tackle can break a leg and has no place in football. If you watch the replay, Pepe straightens his leg after touching the ball. The intent was injury.

 

once tv evidence comes in it will be part of the past