Magnificent Bhoys show the heart of a Lion By Miguel Delaney Friday, November 09, 2012 Tarcisio Burgnich couldn’t believe what he was seeing. It’s into the closing minutes of the 1967 European Cup final, the score is 1-1 and Celtic are absolutely battering away at the Inter defence. Indeed, by that point, Jock Stein’s team had already managed over 40 shots on goal — the kind of stat that was exceptionally rare in the 60s, let alone now. It was all to result in something even rarer, however. The Inter Milan defence, one of the greatest the game had ever seen and the foundation of a dynasty, was about to buckle. The right-back that day, Burgnich, explains: "At one point, [Armando] Picchi turned to the keeper and said: ‘Giuliano [Sarti], let it go, just let it go. It’s pointless. Sooner or later, they’ll get the winner.’ I never imagined my captain would tell our keeper to throw in the towel. That shows how destroyed we were." It is to Celtic’s eternal credit that, under an arguably even greater barrage on Wednesday at Parkhead, they admirably held together and essentially outlasted one of the finest backlines ever. Because, for Celtic’s ultimate 42 shots on goal in 1967, read Barcelona’s eyebrow-raising possession as well as all the miraculous saves Fraser Forster had to pull off. Of course, given that Celtic ultimately beat Inter 2-1 in 1967 and actually had a European Cup to their name for 25 years longer than Barca, it would be hugely disrespectful to the Glasgow club and their past to describe Wednesday as the greatest night in their history. Lisbon remains unparalleled, with the 1970 semi-final win over Leeds United following close enough behind. But, when you consider the dimensions of Wednesday’s match and how the game has changed since Barca’s maiden 1992 win, let alone 1967, it is by no means drastic to say it runs both nights pretty close. In fact, whatever about Celtic’s history, the 2-1 win over Barca was one of the most remarkable results in the modern Champions League. Given the notorious commercialisation of the competition, the most obvious explanation comes down to economics. Whereas Barca’s bench cost over €125m, Celtic FC PLC is only worth around €44m in total assets. The team that started on Wednesday cost €7.2m; the ultimate match-winner, Tony Watt, €62,000. The most telling explanations, though, lie in the statuses of the individual leagues. Quite simply, since the Champions League was created in 1992-93, there has never been an upset which has seen such a difference in the coefficients of the two leagues. At present, for example, Spain is ranked number one in Europe. Scotland, by contrast, is 26th. When BATE Borisov beat Bayern Munich recently, it was 20th against third. Even when APOEL got to the quarter-finals last year, the Cypriot league was still rated way above Scotland’s. Indeed, to put Wednesday’s result into some kind of perspective, the SPL is more than twice as close to the League of Ireland in Uefa’s rankings than it is to Spain. Obviously, there is also the argument that Celtic are a level above the average Scottish side and that such rankings don’t reflect their quality. Just as relevant, though, is the fact the league also prevents the club fulfilling their potential in terms of TV money, commerce and even attracting players. On the other side of it, too, Barca aren’t just playing in the best league in Europe. They’ve just come off the back of one of the best eras in the history of the game. Even more impressively, then, Neil Lennon has succeeded where so, so many great managers and clubs — not least Alex Ferguson and Manchester United — have failed. Although everyone knows the only way to really try and beat Barca is to pack the defence, crowd Leo Messi and the midfield and force them onto the wings, exceptionally few have actually pulled it off. Lennon is now one of them, and the fact he came painfully close to doing it twice illustrates it was down to more than just fluke and a good night. To be fair, although it still takes nothing away from Celtic, the result does perhaps illustrate a few other things too. There remains the distinct possibility that Barca have lost a slight edge since the departure of Pep Guardiola. Similarly, given other surprising results elsewhere, this does look like one of the more open Champions League campaigns in some time. Ultimately, though, Celtic did enough to take advantage of all that. They played the percentages. By allowing many of these same Barca players such freedom in Gdansk in June, it was exactly what Giovanni Trapattoni didn’t do. There is a lesson there.
http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/sport/spl/4635519/Celts-rocked-Parkhead-and-the-WORLD.html Scottish Football Click a badge below to read all the latest from your club Aberdeen Celtic Dundee Dundee Utd Hearts Hibernian Inverness Caledonian Thistle Kilmarnock Motherwell Ross County St Johnstone St Mirren Peter Lawwell GOING HISTORICAL ... Peter Lawwell Keith Campbell Celts rocked Parkhead and the WORLD By ROBERT GRIEVE Published: 09th November 2012 31 THE stadium shuddered. But Peter Lawwell reckons Celtic’s shock win over Barcelona shook the world. The Celts chief executive sat stunned with 60,000 others as Neil Lennon’s side beat the best club side there’s ever been. And Lawwell insists his Hoops heroes was a moment in time to go down in history. He said: “Last night was once again a tremendous Champions League occasion and one which has resonated around the world. We always say there is no place like Celtic Park and last night proved that beyond any doubt. “It was quite simply a unique occasion for the world to witness. It was an example of all that Celtic stands for — our passion, our togetherness and our spirit. “I would like to congratulate Neil, his staff and all of our players for their magnificent win. “They showed tremendous skill, bravery and resilience to overcome the greatest team in the world. “Neil and the boys have risen to the Champions League challenge brilliantly and have once again provided us with an evening that will be remembered for a long time. “And of course, I would like to congratulate and thank our supporters. Like our players, each and every supporter gave their all last night. Before, during and after the match, the support for the team was absolutely incredible. “During the latter stages of the match it was our supporters who once again drove the team on to victory. It was clear to see and clear to hear, when our team was up against it, our fans once again rose and carried the team forward.” Lawwell reckons Barca showed their class on and off the pitch in the way they handled defeat. He added: “The sign of true class is not how you win, but how you lose and they demonstrated that perfectly.” Read more: http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/sco...ked-Parkhead-and-the-WORLD.html#ixzz2Bohp6CaL
I do have a slight problem with this bit. Barca have had their best ever start to their domestic campaign and if they had beaten us on Wednesday night they would have equaled their best ever start to a CL campaign. 'tis but a minor quibble though,
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xu...c-fc-vs-fc-barcelona-hd-16-9-07-11-2012_sport I know you all will, but watch that to the end...
That did my heart good Reb - thanks. A nice little touch at the end with what looked like a father and son joining in the singing when the father wipes a little something from his eye ... great memories for the young lad to carry with him to the end of his days.
Tom cat, sorry to spoil your fun but I cannot foresee any circumstances where Trevor can share his aids or anything else with me. The good thing about Trevor having aids is he is so miserable he won't share it with anyone not even a wild cat.
Media in different parts of the world have focused on us, for two reasons 1. The victory was against one of the all time great teams and was quite unexpected. 2. The fans and the display were phenomenal and once all the hoo haa over the actual result had settled down it was this aspect of it all that caught the global imagination. Even some if the media down south were commenting that it may be good for the PL to have us down there. Latter point seems more realistic if only one if the original old firm are involved, thus avoiding the sectarian baggage.
