You take a gamble every time you go cottaging in Princes street toilets and let some young stud squirt his pearl jet up yer ****ter.
7 points with two games remaining. I don't think anyone had that down - only 6 out of 17 of us (35%) had us down as getting more than 7 points and two of those were Venom and SH being routinely mental. However, I would like to point out how often I emphasised how critical Wanyama would be (particularly against Barca although it was more concern than hope)
I fancy Spartak to get something in Moscow - I don't see Barca being up for a Muscovite winter much. Mathematically, we can still come bottom but we can still come top (need an unlikely result in Lisbon). I'm fleeing by the way.
MARCA Celtic prove Barca can be beaten "Good defensive tactics, an amazing performance by Fraser Forster in goal, a partisan crowd and a pinch of good luck. With these ingredients, Celtic cooked up a night on which Barcelona were unable to offer their best. There is perhaps no greater home pitch advantage in all of football than a Celtic match at Parkhead... as Barcelona learned the hard way." - Angel L. D. Maza ----- AS Barca's style of football dealt hammer blow "It was an enthralling fight between two different schools of football, similar to what has happened in the last few Clásicos. Neither team's style of football is necessarily more dignified than the other's: one is direct, the other more elaborate, but both can lead you to victory. There is one difference, however. Celtic's style of football is primitive, but got them the result they wanted. Barcelona's football is far more romantic and is the key to their recent success, and they do not want to renounce it." - Alfredo Matilla ----- MUNDO DEPORTIVO Bravehearts overcome Barcelona "Barcelona were the guest of honour at Celtic's birthday party. It is hard to imagine how this Celtic team, with the support of the fans, ever lose a game in this old and beloved stadium. The atmosphere was special: 60,000 plastic green and white sheets formed a mosaic of the club badge, and brutal screaming engulfed the Champions League anthem. They did not stop jumping, singing and shouting. This pushes people to their team. And there is a legend: the stadium literally shakes." - Joan Poqui ----- SPORT Barcelona caught in a trance at Celtic Park "This match was a carbon copy of what we saw a few weeks ago at the Camp Nou. But this time there was to be no comeback, no triumph at the last minute. Celtic did not move an inch from their script. After taking the lead they retreated behind the ball, giving it to Barca. Barca were superior to their rival, who defended all the time. But Celtic are a tough nut to crack." - Ricard Lopez ----- CADENA SER Forster heroics help Celtic achieve unlikely victory "This time Barcelona could not penetrate the wall of defenders they so often face in league and cup competitions. A corner, a counter-attack, plus some memorable stops by Fraser Forster, were enough for Celtic to counter Barca's dominance." - Alfredo Garcia ----- BARCELONA FC Squandered opportunity for Barcelona "The Scots can feel very fortunate to have survived the Barça onslaught and come out of this with a win, having only made two attempts on goal, while Barça dominated the possession from start to finish and hit the woodwork twice. The three points were a far bigger return than the Hoops deserved from a bizarre game in which they scored with their only two serious attempts on goal." - Roger Bogunya
'Bravehearts overcome Barca' What the Spanish press are saying about Celtic's shock 2-1 Champions League victory over Barcelona. please log in to view this image ____ From 'The Great Wall' to the 'greatest night of my life', Sportsmail sees how the world reacted to Celtic beating Barca Celtic's win over Barcelona will live long in the memory of all those who bore witness to it, be them the 60,000 inside Parkhead or the millions watching around the world on television. Those who tuned in did so, no doubt, expecting a spirited defiance from the hosts against a tide of Catalan brilliance. What they saw, though, was something altogether more outstanding, as Celtic stood firm against wave after wave of attack, and twice catching the more illustrious opponents. As birthday parties go, the Bhoys 125th will take some beating. Incredible: Celtic pulled off one of recent history's biggest shocks by beating Barcelona The Great Wall: Spanish media pays tribute to Celtic's goalkeeper, Fraser Forster As Spanish newspaper Marca noted, 'Again, it was the formula of Chelsea', referring to the Blues shut-up-shop against-all-odds Champions League semi-final victory in May. On their website, Marca carried a brilliant summary of the atmosphere inside the stadium, hailing it as 'the 12th man'. The piece, by Arch Bell, started: 'There is perhaps no greater home pitch advantage in all of football than a Celtic home match at Celtic Park as Barcelona learned the hard way in their Wednesday night Champions League defeat 2-1.' For the most part, though, Celtic's stunning achievement was relegated to the inside pages of the national press, replaced instead by reflections on Real Madrid's draw with Borussia Dortmund a day earlier. In a small box in the bottom corner, Marca opted for 'coger los hunos', while AS again referenced the counter-attacking style of the victors. Only El Mundo Deportivo truly gave the game prominence, hailing the hosts' goalkeeper Fraser Forster as 'La Gran Muralla' (The Great Wall). But you didn't need the papers to gauge the shock and awe that was sweeping across Europe. Barcelona's official Twitter account, @fcbarcelona, gave begrudging praise to their opponents, writing: "Congratulations to @CelticFC for well-earned victory a day after their 125-year anniversary. Coger los hunos #FCBLive" Others seemed to think the night could signal the end of Barcelona's reign in Europe. Former Fulham and United States striker Brian McBride (@BMcBride20), said: "Barcelona needs to figure out another way to attack...because right now teams know how to beat them." Others focused on Celtic, and rightly so. Shay Given ‏(@No1shaygiven) wrote: 'Amazing result for @celticfc congrats to every1 connected to the club. @FraseForster was on fire again.' Former Celtic boss Kenny Dalglish (@kennethdalglish) suggested the win was only the second greatest night in the history of the club, behind the European Cup win in 1967. He wrote: 'What an unbelievable result for Neil Lennon and all at Celtic. Only Lisbon beats it. The noise was deafening.' Another former favourite, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink was in the crowd enjoying the birthday celebrations before the match, and John Hartson (‏@JohnHartson10) wrote: 'One word brilliant!!' Jason Roberts (@JasonRoberts30) added: 'Woke up feeling inspired by what I witnessed last night with The MIGHTY CELTS...Saturday can't come quick enough...' please log in to view this image Helping hand: Madrid based newspaper Marca carried a special feature on the crowd However, the final word belongs to those involved. Kris Commons ‏(@kcommons15): 'Quite simply the greatest game I've ever been involved in!!' Joe Ledley (‏@joe16led) 'Got to say I know ever player says it but today was the best atmosphere ever... Thank you.' He earlier wrote: 'Boomtown greatest moment of my life! We have just beaten the best team ever!' Victor Wanyama (@VictorWanyama): 'The best moment of my life beating Barca.' The most popular image doing the rounds in the aftermath of the match was a snapshot of the match statistics from Sky TV. please log in to view this image Dry your eyes mate: Pictures of Rod Stewart crying after the match flooded social networking sites Most commenting on them were struck by the record-breaking possession stats - 89 per cent in the Spaniard's favour, with 955 passes compared with Celtic's 166. But it was an incident off the field that became the most talked about thing on Twitter, that of Rod Stewart's tears. An animated Gif quickly becoming the biggest trending image on the site.
