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Celtic Is More Than Capable Of Turning This European Tie Around.

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The European defeat in midweek raises two questions; number one, can we turn this tie around and number two, how much effort should we expend in trying to do so? This article won’t focus on the second of these questions, but only the first.

My feelings on the second are already pretty well known, which is that it’s just not worth it.

Bodo-Glimt are clearly a decent side. Their European performances have proved that.

Their domestic league performances have proved that. In order to go through we have do what Roma failed to do and win in the ground where they were beaten by five.

Not only that, but we need to do it by three clear goals. Difficult? Extremely.

But if we go over there and do as they did here – score early – we put them on the back foot.

If we race into a 2-0 lead I think the tie becomes ours to lose at that point. We are capable of that. We know we are capable of that. We were brilliant for spells in Germany and Spain, and so we can certainly do it Norway.

No-one should kid themselves about the difficulties of this though.

Few teams have beaten this Bodo side by more than two goals in the last couple of years.

We would be bucking all kinds of trends if we were to manage it. They have played Milan as well as Roma – Milan beat them, in a one off qualifier, 3-2 but it was tight as you can gather.

They will be flying high, and confident they can take care of us.

They are a side who fancy their chances of punching above their weight in the Champions League; they like ourselves believe they are slumming it at this level, and maybe they are.

Our performance will have to be exceptional.

As good as this team has been in any of its games this far in this campaign, we will need to be better.

This would be the standout result in this campaign so far if we were to pull it off … but it will take a Herculean effort and we have Easter Road to visit in the following game. That’s not the ideal scenario to say the least.

But on a purely one-off basis, taken in isolation, with no other considerations, can we do this?

And I think the answer is yes and the manager and the players think the answer is yes.

But it’s not just a straightforward task, this lot are playing on a ground where they seldom lose and certainly not by such a wide margin.

Difficult, not impossible is what I think.

Lose an early goal and it becomes impossible. Lose our focus at that stage and we’re in for a very long night, just as Mourinho and his humiliated players were.

That result was freakish … but it wasn’t a freak.

This team have a very, very good record in their wee tiny stadium … we are really up against it here.

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  • Stewart says:

    Good comments in this piece,, this competition is not for us,, a good strong performance but leave this tournament to others,, the league here is paramount,,and possible Cup final appearance in May,,as for all the dribble being written by ibrokes lackeys there is a(bit) of swagger but no substance there,, wait until they drop their 1st point(s) cause they will, sit back and enjoy

    • Seppington says:

      I hate seeing these kind of comments

      “…this competition is not for us…”

      I think it very much is, given how crap we have been in Europe for years. One Thursday’s showing we might not be good enough for that, even. We are not what we were, regardless of a few good results here and there. Based on merit we do not belong in the CL any more than the huns do, and that’s a sad fact. The claims of “Celtic ur a big team and should be in with the real Madrids an that” is utter arrogant tripe. Sure, we’re a big club, but if we aren’t good enough on the pitch then we have no right to be anywhere near that level of competition.
      Scottish football is a weird place. Our press looks down it’s nose when an Ange/Ronny type is given a job with “What have they ever done outside their pishy wee league?” snideyness, yet do not see the irony that is Scottish football has been a pishy wee league for decades now. Some of us need to wake up to the fact that having squillions of fans is no guarantee of success. The fact is we can win the SPL every year til the end of time and we can still get pumped by European diddy teams every year. As long as we play in a country were every single team sits behind the ball for 89 mins out of 90 when they play better opposition. Our players have looked stunned by quality opposition that has a go at them, and that’s because we have our own way most of the time. It’s ironic but in order for Celtic to make progress in Europe we need SPL teams to start strapping on a pair and try to play attacking football for a change. They inevitably get beat anyway so what’s the harm?

  • John S says:

    Of course the tie can be won. However, I think most Celtic fans would gladly see the back of the Europa Conference if it meant regaining the Title. The two are not exclusive and players get paid enough to be fully committed but, realistically, Europe is both a bonus and a distraction to the main campaign at this stage.

  • jrm63 says:

    On grass difficult – Legia scored 3 there. On plastic? We cannot beat Livingston.

  • Jake Hansen says:

    Take a 1-1 and say thank you, but we’ve got a League to win and the CL Groups come with it. Nothing else matters until next season.

    That being said, Celtic win 3-1 and take it 3-2 in penalties.

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