Celtic travel to Old Trafford tonight to take on Manchester United in the Champions League. The two clubs played each other in the same competition back in 2006. On that occasion, both sides won their home games.
Difficult to beat
In the context of Celtic’s performances in Europe generally, that isn’t a fact that will surprise anyone. They are very difficult to beat at home and in 2006, a Shunsuke Nakamura free-kick was enough for Celtic Park to celebrate another famous victory. At Old Trafford, Celtic put in one of their better away performances but eventually lost out by the odd goal in five.
If ever there has been a game where the home team are more likely to win I don’t think I have known about it! The European record of the two sides shows that United are enjoying a sixteen match unbeaten home run in the competition whilst Celtic have lost seventeen of their last eighteen away games in the Champions League. They only drew the other one.
Throwing money away
So, what odds could you get for an away win tonight? I don’t know, but it certainly isn’t worth even putting the spare change you find down the back of the sofa on it. You’d be throwing your money away.
It’s not just me who thinks that. If you look at what Celtic boss Gordon Strachan has had to say about the game, I don’t think he fancies betting on an away win either! Comparing the United now to the one they took on in 2006, Strachan said;
“I don’t think they were champions then, but they’re the English champions and the European champions as well now. The more we think about it, the scarier it gets.”
Strachan went on to say that United are the toughest opponents Celtic could possibly face in the competition;
“We’re going to play the best team in Europe. They’re the champions of Europe, the champions of England – and that tells you they’re the best team in Europe. They have some of the best players in the world and they know what’s coming, my players, but they’re looking forward to the challenge. A lot of them were here two years ago, so they know what to expect and they enjoyed it. You can only enjoy the experience if you’ve performed well and you’ve been happy with your contributions. It’s going to be huge. We have a lot of injuries, but it’s a lovely place to be going to play your football. So we are all excited to get down there and do the best we can.”
Well, I’ve heard managers be realistic before, but Strachan really does sound as though he doesn’t think his side have a chance! It is OK to show due respect to your opponents, that is right and proper, but I can’t help feeling that Gordon has gone a bit too far here!
Injury problems
Celtic do have a few injury problems and with Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Georgios Samaras both absent, Australian striker Scott McDonald is the only out and out first-team forward available to Strachan. Shouldn’t be a problem, it doesn’t sound like Celtic were going to play any strikers anyway!
Sir Alex Ferguson is expecting an open and attacking game of football;
“You can say it’s a local derby. Scottish and English have the same mentality and both teams will have a go. That’s in the nature and it’s in Celtic’s history. They are not going to sit back. It will be an open game and it will be a good game. We won’t get carried away simply because our home record is good and Celtic’s away record is bad.”
I don’t think Strachan sees the game in quite the same way as Sir Alex. With his apparent ‘hero-worship’ of United and the fact that he only has one striker available, I would be very surprised if Celtic do not ‘sit back’ and put everyone behind the ball. An open game will be the last thing that Strachan will want to see.
Good advert
Whatever happens tonight I expect the game to be enjoyable and a good advert for British football. It is very difficult to see past a relatively easy win for United, but I don’t think I am quite as pessimistic as Gordon Strachan about Celtic’s chances. If they defend well and United start to get frustrated, anything could happen. Well, anything, I suppose, other than a Celtic win!
The other games tonight are;
Bayern Munich v Fiorentina, Porto v Dynamo Kiev, Fenerbahce v Arsenal, Juventus v Real Madrid, Steaua Bucuresti v Lyon, Villarreal v AaB, Zenit St Petersburg v BATE.
- Soccer News Like
- Be the first of your friends!
