Champs League Group, All Chat In Here.

Browsing over the spartak and benfica forums right now quite funny how they predict the same outcomes as we do when it comes to playing them, hoping for a draw at CP then a win at their respective home grounds although there are quite a few who are hoping for easy wins over both legs against us, would love to prove them wrong.

Another thing to note, they all have singled out Samaras as our most dangerous player with even one of them on the benfica forums writing "Samaras is *" lol.

 

Most fans all over Europe know Celtic Park is a very tough place to come to. However since Celtic have been away from the CL in a few years people naturally will dismiss us, this is to our benefit though.

 

Yeah they're definitely aware of how difficult it can be at celtic park, and I agree with us being on european hiatus for a while team's might not know what to expect espacially since we've changed our style of play since our last outing.

 

My wish is the most difficult.... Benfica and Celtic to go through but i dont see that happening. To be honest i see Benfica as a favourite to go through with Barcelona if we play with the quality we did last year, but that will always be difficult to predict because of some player changes in our side and both Celtic and Spartak will be tough rivals. I guess this will be a great group and very even.

Talking about Samaras, he is the most known player here and therefor he is seen as your main weapon.

 

Who do you fear most over two legs, and be honest haha Celtic or spartak ?

It will be a very even group imo, apart from barca running away with it at the top. I imagine over the course of the group celtic, benfica and spartak switching table position several times. The key to going through will be to win each of our home games and snatching at least one draw away from home.

 

I can´t really tell you who i fear the most THIS YEAR, because i dont really know how well both Celtic and Spartak are playing. Without knowing what you are playing i guess that traditionally Celtic will be stronger speacially at home, but playing in the Russian winter in a synthetic pitch is not what we are used to, and you guys surely will have an easier job in getting used to the cold weather than we do. At home i can see us favourite over Celtic and Spartak, and with chances of a good result against Barcelona. The Barcelona away is praticaly lost for the 3 of us.

 

Yes think we can all agree that all 3 of us will walk away from the nou camp empty handed and probably very similar results at home. I agree with every you said about the ties in Russia, will be very difficult in that climate. Well anyway good luck in europe mate its gonna be some ride.

 

i dont know why (maybe blind optimism) but i think we can get out of this group ,granted i dont think well take anything from the barca games and as long as we put in a better performance than the last time we met ,which wouldnt be difficult, ill be happy,
spartak and benfica are both beatable and i think we have a much better team than the last time we were in the champions league ,thats not including the new arrivals which will hopefully give us more of a cutting edge going foward ,the europa league last year will stand us in good stead 2nd place is there for the taking

 

Did we not run them very close last time we played them, in 2008? They beat us 3-2 at Parkhead and 1-0 at the Nou Camp? Not bad, when you consider the players they had, even a few years ago.

 

3-2 really flattered us there was a massive gulf between the two teams,and probably wasnt that bad all things considered .our team is far stronger now albeit lacking a bit of experience

 

Barry Robson header that night took about a week to go in

 

Celtic could get 1 or 3 points off Benfica at home and probably a defeat in Lisbon, but if we get an away draw i feel this is the place it could happen.

Spartak away i feel this will be a defeat but i reckon we will beat Spartak at CP.

Barca home and away will be defeats.

So by my reckoning Celtic will get -

0 off Barca
3 off Spartak
3 off Benfica

= 6 points, but if we manage an away draw at Benfica thats 7 points and possibly 3rd place.

 

Its all fun and games until he knocks 5 past us.

 

So true man, really dreading a right battering at the nou camp but who knows.

 

Saw on Twitter that we put in a 5m bid for Chelsea's Champions League-winning Bus in order to bolster our defense for the Barcelona game. Tidy bit of business.

 

How he managed to beat Valdes with that effort, I'll never know

Great night though, despite the end result. JVOH's header is still one of my favourite Celtic goals of all time. Here's hoping Miku or Lassad can emulate him

 

I seen quite a lot of Benfica last season and you are a real quality techinical side. Easily outplayed Man Utd at Old Trafford and were very unlucky to just take a point. Aimar is an absolute gem of a player. I believe you'll beat us at The Estadio Da Luz, but we have a strong chance at home with our excellent record and the fantastic atmosphere we create. Only Barcelona have beaten us at home in the Champions League.

Will you be making the trip to Glasgow in 2 weeks?

 

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoYJfvgrSfA&feature=youtube_gdata_player"]Alan Thompson vs Barcelona (2003/04) - YouTube[/ame]


[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BluigblcgE&feature=youtube_gdata_player"]Champions League Music - YouTube[/ame]

Can't Wait

 

True story......Aimar is an absolute legend! I enjoy every single time he touches the ball and you can tell he is playing just by watching the rest of the team playing! Last year we didn´t have much luck in CL, speacially against Chelsea, we were the better side in both games, but they also bet Barça and Bayern the same way.....lucky * hahahaha.

You are right about the Glasgow game....thats not an easy stadium to play, but we have a weird fact....we are very strong in the away games, and last year we didnt loose a single game in the group stage, and im looking forward to this first game, wich i will certainly be watching in Glasgow. Just waiting for some friends to confirm.