I don’t know what the U.S. electoral picture will look like by the time this piece goes live, but it’s around 2 a.m. as I write, and any hope I had of a landslide win for Kamala Harris seems less likely. She could still pull off a win, though. There’s a way to go yet, and if she does, she might do it comfortably. But this does not look like it’s going according to plan.
The one thing that’s surpassed my expectations, by a mile, was our performance last night at Celtic Park, and so I’m going to bed a happy guy regardless.
Sometimes, it’s easy to sit down and write after watching a Celtic match. Tonight, however, I’ve spent hours since leaving the stadium trying to gather my thoughts and avoid veering into hyperbole or overconfidence. But the more I consider it, the happier I am with what I saw; every replay I watch builds my confidence.
When the draw was made, I said we should aim for 15 points: four wins at home and one away. I thought it was ambitious, but possible. Now, we can’t quite hit that target because of the draw in Bergamo – we can actually reach 16 points.
Do we need 16? Possibly not; some reckon we could progress with just 10 points.
Realistically, though, I believe we’ll need at least 12.
Still, 16 would almost guarantee a high finish and a favourable draw in the qualifying rounds. That’s the ‘math’ of it, and trust me, I’ve been doing a lot of number-crunching tonight – both Champions League maths and electoral maths. But I firmly believe that every point is worth chasing, and after last night, I genuinely think we’re capable of going the distance.
No less an authority than Neil Lennon himself – without any reference to his own accomplishments – said that this was the most impressive European performance by a Celtic side since the days of Martin O’Neill. I’d go even further: in terms of the football, especially that second half, I’ve never seen a better performance from Celtic in Europe against such a high-calibre side. It was exhilarating to watch us dismantle them the way we did.
Several players stood out last night, though the entire team deserves immense credit for a phenomenal performance.
Among the standouts were our American centre back Austin Trusty, the unplayable Nicolas Kuhn, the majestic Reo Hatate, and of course, Callum McGregor. Look, McGregor’s leadership, vision, and sheer skill were immense. His passing stats were outrageously good.
As far as I’m concerned the doubts which some in our media and elsewhere have expressed about him being a genuine elite level player have been utterly erased. He showcased his standing as the best player in Scotland, bar none. We are truly fortunate to have a player of his calibre who’s devoted his career to Celtic.
It wasn’t just a night for individual stars; it was an impeccable team performance.
I honestly don’t think I’ve seen a more complete Celtic display in a European game. The tactical setup was spot on, with Rodgers perfectly blending an aggressive attack with a defensively sound structure. After the Dortmund game, he’d said he wanted to see more effective pressing, and last night, that high press worked wonders. We relentlessly pressured them, and by the last 10 minutes, even their Bundesliga-level athletes looked exhausted – we had run them ragged.
This game was a resounding validation of the manager’s strategy, team-building, and tactical vision. Those of us who questioned his tactics after Dortmund – and I was among them – were right to raise concerns, but in some ways, we were also wrong.
He’s fully entitled to tell us to “pipe down” after last night’s result because that’s exactly how he wanted us to play in Germany. Who knows? With a press like that in Dortmund, maybe things would have turned out differently.
The biggest takeaway, though, is that this performance showed a team that has matured, grown, and improved steadily as we’ve gone on. The evidence isn’t just in this display but in our strong showing in the semi-final against Aberdeen, our performance in Bergamo, and the steady, incremental progress we’ve been making all along.
I am pretty tired as I write this, and I was hoping for a more relaxing evening in front of CNN than I am going to get. But I’ll have plenty more to say about this game later: about just how good we were, and about the road ahead for this club.
If I’m honest, I’m more optimistic now about our future than I’ve probably ever been. And there’s one critical move the club must make before any outside nonsense starts: we need to get Rodgers signed to an extended contract as soon as possible.
Since his return, the development of this team has been extraordinary. This is the most excited I’ve been about Celtic since the O’Neill era, and it was a privilege to be part of that fantastic night.
Phenomenal result, display and performance from Celtic last night.
The exhilaration we received from it, should overcome any tiredness this morning.
As you say, if our club now backs Rodgers with a new contract and continued investment, then the future is hugely exciting for all of us.
No failures last night, but I’d like to single out Hatate for his creativity allied to the general team workrate, and another special mention to our captain, leader and very special footballer, CalMac.
Those two for me, were absolutely outstanding and ran the midfield !
Not far behind was Kuhn, obviously, and big Trusty.
What a club, what a team and what an atmosphere!
Superb! HH
Not forgetting big Kasper’s saves at vital moments !
This was a wow, wow, wow night at Celtic Park.
The atmosphere was incredible as was the display.
Possibly the best European night since the glory days of big Jock’s time and equal to if not better than Barca2012
The poise of the team was fantastic, Leipzig were gone in the last 20 minutes or so which made the night as relaxing as it was exciting,
What a team this could become. Not a single failure but CalMac was phenomenal as were Reo and Kuhn. Trusty looks a steal at M£6.
We should now be aiming for a top 8 place; it’s not beyond us at this rate.
Outstanding performance! Absolutely everyone was on it from the get go. First time I’ve seen Celtic show real mental fortitude in a Champions League game in a long time.
To come back from behind & not let the heads drop filled me with joy. 17 years ago we last achieved that feet.
This team has the potential to be a nightmare for anyone in this competition. Confidence is sky high but the work rate is there also. We broke Leipzig last night, they were dangerous in that first half when attacking but getting the goal right before half time I think just pulled everything out of them. They didn’t lay a glove on us second half.
I was getting worried towards the end, BR making the substitutions had me worried that our passing play would be broken up & let them back into the game.
It did get a bit scrappy briefly but then all the subs slotted in & continued as if they’d been playing the whole game.
Seeing reports this morning that Barcelona are considering shortening Valle loan in January. I really hope that is the DR etc trying to disrupt a player who is showing himself to be a real talent & Celtic need to be buying that player in January or as soon as the reported £1-2m release clause becomes active.
It’s looking bad from the good old USA,looks like trump is going to be president, seems to be all the rural ,redneck and hillbilly states voted for him.That last night was a wonderful result for Brendan and the players,the manager has found a lovely balance in the way he sets his team out to play in the CL.A fantastic result where beforehand I would have taken a draw, well done Celtic,you can start to hold your head up in Europe and get it up the English biased media who pour scorn on the Scottish game,these last 2 results in Europe feel like we have turned a corner performance wise at this level,long may it continue,hail hail.
The planet just became a less secure place. Anyway, apart from the obvious bad news, brilliant performance last night, and the most pleasin thing imo, was that we actually looked like a European side. Apart from their goal and the set peice right after it, we defended like we did against Atlanta when necessary and took the game tae them at the right times as well. Great balance all over the park. The way they moved the ball about was great tae see as well.
I absolutely loathe Donald Trump mate, but have you considered the possibility that people didn’t vote for Harris due to her being part of the Biden administration that literally engineered the war in Ukraine and have bankrolled a year-long and counting genocide in Palestine, now being extended into Lebanon and Syria, with a full on conflict with Iran also looking almost certain? Trump is a weapons-grade fuckwit who should be rotting behind bars, but the idea that the world is a safer place had the war criminals currently running the show stayed in charge is laughable.
A fantastic, collective TEAM performance that will be remembered for a very long time, at least until the next time we surpass it. There were no failures, every single player put in a hard shift and a sterling effort. It is a great time right now for everyone who is a Celtic supporter, we are privileged to be able to watch this improving side and I believe there is much more to come.
COYBIG!
On another praiseworthy note, well done to our most vociferous of fans at the North Curve, who refrained from letting off fireworks and flares as normal. I hope this is a trend that will continue, we all wholeheartedly welcome their support and I am glad they are taking on board the managements sensible advice.
Absolutely brilliant performance. The confidence, temperament and technique were all brilliant. We got out of tight areas with the ball, we quickly won it back when we lost it. All the subs came on and didn’t disrupt the flow, they all contributed to a magnificent performance especially coming from a goal down. A special mention for Hatate who I think, has found the consistency required in the last few weeks. His work rate was next level last night.
Don’t be too upset about the election James, Harris wouldn’t have been any good either.
This is the best performance I’ve seen in many a year from Celtic, or any other Scottish Team for that matter. The intensity, speed and intricacy was phenomenal at any level. The Leipzig players who cost 5 times most of the Celtic players, were tied in know and chasing shadows. Brendan has also improved so much and is starting to reach his peak now!
An absolutely fuckin AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME performance by Celtic…
What a beautiful beautiful feeling today is indeed…
But not for The Scummy’s of The Scummy Scottish Football Media or The Sevco Hun Hoards though –
Although Trump will ease their pain quite a bit no doubt !