THE BIG OFFICIAL CELTIC v BARCA THREAD

No doubt about it, Barcelona were sensational tonight and proved why, rightly so, they are favourites for this competition.

We get no luck in the Champions League, always difficult groups, then last year we get put out by the eventual winners and this year we draw the favourites, and playing like that they will win it.

We will eventually get favourable draws in the Champions League and that combined with Gordon Strachan’s tactics, guts and determination, we can win this competition within say 5 years, as long as we stand by WGS.

Tonight’s result is nothing to be ashamed about, we will get allot of credit for the way we went for it and made Barcelona sweat.

 

At points you just had to admire the sheer excellence of the Barcelona team. We were beaten, and we deserved it. Send on the * huns, we'll rip them apart. CL next year after a few more quality signings (preferably in defence!)

 

I've just been talking to some of my friends around europe and they said they were impressed Celtic actually went for it against Barca, not many teams would dare do it, and we all saw what rangers did when they played them and that didn't impress anyone anywhere in the world.

To be honest I think if we had, had Brown, Hinkel and Balde we woud've won but that neither here nor there, I'm still glad we played the Glasgow Celtic way, specially the first half

 

Those two goals gave me such a euphoria, but in the end I'm of course saddened. But, really, Barca are Barca, they were incredible on the night and a world class side. Indeed our goals probably shouldn't have been conceded because of mistakes but hey, they most likely would have found a way to score. I personally thought Samaras did not do well at all, not just because of the dive. I have no doubts in WGS, but of course the defence needs to be freshened up, along with a dominating centre mid.

P.S. SIGN HENRIK LARSSON!

 

Oh yeah, sidenote. That Samaras dive was embarassing haha.

 

Hail Hail!

Although we lost, I'm still feeling quite a sense of pride. I'm amost certain Barca will go on to win this competition, they just seem to be in a league of their own and if they keep playing like that, they probably deserve to win it.

They didn't win easily tonight, despite numerous huns on timpark's stream saying "EASY!!" etc in the chat section, we made them grind out that result. We were leading twice to Barcalona, not many teams can say that. It takes a lot of class, determination and quality for a team to come to Celtic Park and win and they pulled it off. Fair play to them.

Although the stakes are against us, lets contine to cheer the bhoys on, who knows what can happen...

 

Exactly, no shame for Celtic tonight.

I’m sure we will go all out for the win in the Camp Nue, we will not let Barcelona pass easily into the next round and WGS deserves allot of credit for that, IMO.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but did Milan not say Celtic was there toughest test on their way to winning the competition last season?

 

I'm proud of the first half. Robson played well, and VoH aswell. Two goals are pretty good against Barca, and we know can be better in the future. New centerback, and Hinkel on for Europe etc.

The future still looks bright.

 

sorry mate , but we won't win it while we're in the SPL..

You saw the level of performance needed tonight , and thats's JUST TO COMPETE..

Posession wise we were just destroyed.. That's because we have guys playing at 70 or 80% cantering through matches in the SPL.. The whole team can't improve to Champions league level by playing Kilmarnock and St Mirren every other week.. Mcgeady has come on leaps and bounds , and I'll eat humble pie with venegoor because he's upped the workrate just as Strachan said he would.. We have an overused phrase at the club of buying players with a "sell on value".. As a fan I would rather hear that we buy them young so we can build a young team that will peak together like Arsenal , and when they do peak they'll have a chance of competing with Barcelona.. Do you think Barca bought Eto or Ronaldinho in their mid 20's because they had a sell on value ? No , because they don't need to sell players , neither do Man Utd , Arsenal , Liverpool , Chelsea and 10 or more other teams in Europe.. We unfortunately do.. That's why I think tonight is alright.. It's a reasonal measure of our current level.. Seperate team from club.. We are a massive club.. We don't have the quality of players that your "average" massive club has , and are unlikely to in the next 5 years.. But I , will keep the faith...

 

Just back from the game and I'm proud of the fact we stood toe to toe with them and tried to have a go, unlike the smellies who try to get football stopped with their grinding negativity.

However, I can't help feeling a little bit disappointed with the manner of the goals conceded. If they had all been wonder strikes then you have to hold your hands up and admit they're too good, but they were cheap giveaways.

Deco must have played the same pass inside Naylor about a dozen times during the game, the only surprise was that Barca didn't score more than one from it. I have to say that although he doesn't attract the same attention as his more illustrious team mates and most of us despise him, Deco for me was unbelievably good tonight, just drifting into space and pulling the strings in midfield.

Now I don't want to be accused of being Captain hindsight, because I've been saying Caldwell is a * bombscare all season. There's nothing I can add to what I've already stated about my feelings about him.

That 2nd goal just killed the tie for me. It was as though everybody, fans and players alike knew that was it. The atmosphere was flat after that, not even a 5 minute spell of pressure from us or a late cavalry charge. It allowed Barca to ping passes about and the 3rd was just a bonus for them.

But I don't want to be too down on the team because I'm proud of them, young Caddis stuck to his task very well and I thought Big Jan played his best game since Old Trafford and won everything in the air until he started to tire.

A good effort from the team, a good game, but in the end class told.

 

Did Jan go off because of his fitness or was it just tactical? Just asking because I was totally suprised he got subbed, didn't think McDonald did anything wrong it was just that it seemed Barca struggled to deal with height

 

The first mistake he made was in the 12th minute (I think) because it stuck out for me..
We were defending in our own box and he just sprinted out 5 yards towards a Barca player who had just passed the ball to a team mate (Henry).. It left Caddis in the * and resulted in one of many first half crosses from their left wing across the face of goal..

I won't criticise Caldwell because whatever team we played tonight we may have lost by even more , and basic errors get scrutinised more when you get punished for them like the 2nd goal..

Im happy with the overall scheme of things tonight and will go up against any hun * who thinks we were made to look mediocre..

I'm seeing a lot of good things about our players and as long as team spirit doesn't dissolve we're still in a position of strength in the title..

We are the champions because we don't give up..

We're always given credit by the opposition because we play football the way it's meant to be played..

And our fans are always given a welcome anywhere they go because they behave like football fans.. When things are going tough they don't boo (like the orcs)

We're Celtic supporters, faithful through and through,
And over and over, we will follow you.
If you go to Germany, you will see us there,
France or Spain its all the same,
We'll go any where,
We'll be there to cheer you,
As you travel round,
You can take us anywhere, we won't let you down.
Oh! over and over, we will follow you,
Over and over, we will see you through,
We're Celtic supporters, faithful through and through,

 

That's a pity, at the halftime i was believing at least for a tie, but in the second half we never attacked as we did in the first one and then we gifted two goals to Barcelona, and they surely don't need our charity. Anyway i liked Aiden's, Skippy's and JVOH's games, while Hartley and Caldwell didn't do a great impression to me. But we demonstrated that we can keep the field against a great team as Barcelona, now we need a real miracle in the second leg, i say let's go to the Camp Nou and let's see what happens, sport history is full of upsets and cinderella teams winning, so never say never until it isn't finished. And in every case let's hold our head up high and be proud of ourselves, we remain the fantastic fans of a fantastic and glorious team as the Celtic is!
Hail hail from Italy and sorry for my troubled english.
Always mon the Hoops!

 

This sums the game up for me (Caldwell was * shocking though). I wouldn't say that Barca are going to be running scared in the next leg but they certainly won't be as comfortable as they would like. Also to go ahead against arguably the greatest team in Europe, twice is a * of an accomplishment in itself I feel.

We'll be snapping at their heels until the very * death.

 

I thought we had it, and the third goal was unlucky, off the defenders (can't remember who it was) head and onto Messi's foot. The first two goals however was avoidable, brutal giveaways!! MON THE HOOPS, 2-0 AT CAMP NOU, WE CAN DO IT BHOYS!!

 

It was Naylor.. He tried to kick it out for a corner or throw and it just seemed to come straight of Messi's foot and into the net.. Not sure if he deserves the credit for the finish because Im sure he'll get many more..

 

Ah I see...who gave away the ball in the first two goals??

 

sorry about that , the goal I described was the first Barcelona goal where it came of Naylors foot onto Messi and into the net..

Second goal was Caldwell's failed pass which went to Ronaldinho who set up Henry..

Final goal from Messi was from a * up in defence.. not sure who takes the blame but Caldwell tried to block the shot and seemd that he blocked Boruc's view of the shot instead..

 

They wiped the floor with us. Taught us a lesson and the scoreline flattered us.

Our inability to string more than 3 passes together constantly put us under pressure.

 

I'm happy that we played our usual style and tried to do it the Celtic way but we gave away two silly goals and in the 2nd half the dominated possession which crippled us.

Pointing fingers and the blame game isn't going to achieve much. They were better and they forced us into those mistakes because we werent playing Gretna, we were playing the bookmakers favorites for the competition, remember that.