Champions League Over And Out "For Now`
Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2008 4:50 pm
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And so ended a Champions League sequence that started at Parkhead with a missed penalty, and ended there with a two-nil win over a team from Spain, a result which at any other time would have been a cause for pride and celebration. Its not that last night meant nothing, its just it never meant what hed hoped it would mean when the draw was made all those months ago.
This campaign has not been our toughest; in terms of the draw, that one would have to have been our 2004-2005 season, when again we finished with just five points, but from a group featuring Barcelona, AC Milan and Shakhtar Donetsk. The teams this year came nowhere near that formidable standard, but still includes the team which finished third in Spain last year and, of course, the Champions League holders.
So, not a great year. But, aside from the ignominy of not qualifying for the UEFA Cup, not a great shock and despite what the press might say, no great shame either.
The question we need to ask today, however, is where it all went wrong.
There are two answers to this question, one an easy, snap judgement, the other more complicated. The easy answer is to talk about money. Did any Celtic supporter really believe the summer transfer spending had left us in good shape for an assault on Europes richest tournament? When you examine what other clubs had spent, the answer is certainly no and yet some of those clubs fell at the Champions League hurdle anyway.
Zenit St Petersburg, Dynamo Kiev, our old friends Shakhtar. With oil fortunes ruling the Russian game, and top players signing for their teams, very few sides in Europe have spent the kind of money these teams have, and yet all three are out of the premier competition this morning. Money does not guarantee success.
A more pressing question is this; would we have made better progress had top stars presently at the club not been out injured? We played every group match minus Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink in a starting eleven (he was a sub both against Aalborg and Villarreal), for the game in Manchester we were missing Jan as well as Samaras and for the home game were missing both these players plus Aiden McGeady and a not fully fit Nakamura only made the bench. A number of these players returned for the Aalborg game away, but their lack of match fitness was obvious from the start.
Not only physical fitness, but psychological fitness has played a part in this years campaign, for this Celtic team seems haunted by the awful statistical fact that we have yet to win an away match in the Champions League group stages. Every match we play away from home adds to the tally, and this adds to the pressure. This is why the Aalborg result was crushing on so many levels. In simple terms, it was a match we needed to win to get that monkey of our backs. The press will never tire of casting it at us, increasing the pressure still further. In short, it must be the top priority in our next campaign.
As far as European football is concerned, we are done for the year. This is a blow, and its a big loss to us in terms of prestige, experience and finance. But the task before the players is now less complicated; we need to dominate domestically.
What we all want now is a wee treble in the New Year!
And so ended a Champions League sequence that started at Parkhead with a missed penalty, and ended there with a two-nil win over a team from Spain, a result which at any other time would have been a cause for pride and celebration. Its not that last night meant nothing, its just it never meant what hed hoped it would mean when the draw was made all those months ago.
This campaign has not been our toughest; in terms of the draw, that one would have to have been our 2004-2005 season, when again we finished with just five points, but from a group featuring Barcelona, AC Milan and Shakhtar Donetsk. The teams this year came nowhere near that formidable standard, but still includes the team which finished third in Spain last year and, of course, the Champions League holders.
So, not a great year. But, aside from the ignominy of not qualifying for the UEFA Cup, not a great shock and despite what the press might say, no great shame either.
The question we need to ask today, however, is where it all went wrong.
There are two answers to this question, one an easy, snap judgement, the other more complicated. The easy answer is to talk about money. Did any Celtic supporter really believe the summer transfer spending had left us in good shape for an assault on Europes richest tournament? When you examine what other clubs had spent, the answer is certainly no and yet some of those clubs fell at the Champions League hurdle anyway.
Zenit St Petersburg, Dynamo Kiev, our old friends Shakhtar. With oil fortunes ruling the Russian game, and top players signing for their teams, very few sides in Europe have spent the kind of money these teams have, and yet all three are out of the premier competition this morning. Money does not guarantee success.
A more pressing question is this; would we have made better progress had top stars presently at the club not been out injured? We played every group match minus Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink in a starting eleven (he was a sub both against Aalborg and Villarreal), for the game in Manchester we were missing Jan as well as Samaras and for the home game were missing both these players plus Aiden McGeady and a not fully fit Nakamura only made the bench. A number of these players returned for the Aalborg game away, but their lack of match fitness was obvious from the start.
Not only physical fitness, but psychological fitness has played a part in this years campaign, for this Celtic team seems haunted by the awful statistical fact that we have yet to win an away match in the Champions League group stages. Every match we play away from home adds to the tally, and this adds to the pressure. This is why the Aalborg result was crushing on so many levels. In simple terms, it was a match we needed to win to get that monkey of our backs. The press will never tire of casting it at us, increasing the pressure still further. In short, it must be the top priority in our next campaign.
As far as European football is concerned, we are done for the year. This is a blow, and its a big loss to us in terms of prestige, experience and finance. But the task before the players is now less complicated; we need to dominate domestically.
What we all want now is a wee treble in the New Year!