Champions League: AC Milan vs CELTIC, 18th September 19:45 kick off, live on SS2

So did Allegri and De Jong.

 

I can see why people are saying we played well, but Milan were in more control of that game than it appeared. The only real problem Milan had was where their goal was coming from and they eventually got a bit of luck which got them their goal.

Milan set the same trap for us as Juventus did, but Milan weren't nearly as clinical going forward as Juventus were so that gave us 84 mins to get that first goal and if we had of got it the game would have been different. The lack of closing down from Milan players was deliberate from my view as they were confident that we wouldn't have the firepower to trouble them too much and they were right apart from one or two moments. All Milan had to do was defend properly and not concede and they were confident that the goal would come for them as they had that bit of quality up front in Balotelli, as it were, it was a deflected shot that got them the goal.

It's nice to see us go away to a club such as Milan and have as much possession as we did but we had no bite and looked fairly toothless. There weren't many chances in the game but Milan did create the best one with Muntari's header.

Overall, I would say it was a pretty even game and a draw would have been a fair result as they didn't look like scoring and neither did we, but they got the bit of luck and won the game so that's that.

 

Did we create more chances?

 

We created about the same to be honest. Don't be fooled by the stats, they were shooting from everywhere. Mintari tried from the halfway line * sake

 

So did Mexes. To be fair though, Commons had a couple that fell into the "holy *" category as well.

 

where is the evidence balotelli said they were lucky?

 

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/mario-balotelli-ac-milan-were-2287194

 

I don't think it is stupid at all. They are still a far better team than us. Much more spending power, much better league, better resources. They were nearly in the semi final earlier this year if it hadn't been for Barcelona being terrific on the 2nd leg.

I appreciate that they're not as good as they were in the past, but they aren't poor. Still capable of regularly getting to the last 8 and potentially beyond.

 

It's just my take on the game, I think Milan knew our main danger was on the counter attack with Samaras being our main threat so they paid particular attention to Samaras and also played in a manner which limited our counter attacks. I watched them against Torino and the space they were giving Torino to counter on them was quite bizarre and they paid the price for that.

It's not about tactical genius, it's just the gameplan they set out with just as we had our gameplan. There is nothing special in what Milan did and if we had better quality in the final third then we would have won. But you're right and as I said in my original post, Milan got a lucky goal so it's not all down to tactics and I never said that it was. It's all fine lines though, if Samaras scores when he bursts through or Stokes free kick goes in then Milan would almost have certainly came out and attacked as they would have been left with no choice.

I certainly don't think their win was down to tactical genius as I said in my original post they had a real problem in where their goal was going to come from, but I do think they played in a manner which gave them a better chance of winning which was testament to us because they showed us a great deal of respect.

If we had better quality in the final third then we would have won, but that's why I think Milan weren't attacking us as much as they could have as they were confident in their ability to defend and thought they could nick a goal or two through Balotelli or on the counter.

The same way where we had our gameplan against Barcelona last season, it was just wise for us to defend against Barcelona as it gave us a better chance of getting something from the game. We could have threw a couple of more players forward on occasions against Barcelona, but that then might have gave them the space needed to get the first goal against us. Tactics and details do matter in my opinion, they aren't the be all and end all of course but they do matter.

I agreed with Philippe Mexes' take on the game.

 

100% - one decent run and one shot per game isn't good enough. Stood on the left touchline looking round him. Commons wasn't much better. Should've had Pukki on sooner to give him a chance. Adam Matthews Messiesque run was brilliant and he made more runs than Samaras makes in a * season.

 

* off, this season he could score enough goals to become our 2nd ever top goalscorer in Europe. I hope they offer him whatever contract he wants

 

just watched the samaras shot again. so * close

 

Should have passed to Stokes though.

 

'Greasy Italian *' really? That's an unnecessary comment offensive to Italian Celtic fans of which there are plenty and Celtic fans of Italian descent.

Your 2nd comment is just as bad :smiley-laughing002: Samaras is the main man for Celtic in Europe

 

Yes very true...

 

Any links to full game? Was working on the night only seen highlights

 

+1