‘AAL’ IS NOT LOST

September 18, 2008

Celtic only managed to take a point from their opening Champions League encounter on Tuesday evening as a plucky Aalborg side proved difficult to break down. The main highlight of the first half saw Barry Robson’s penalty saved by Karim Zaza after Maloney had been fouled just inside the box. Georgios Samaras also shot over for the home side and missed the target on another occasion after a dangerous Maloney delivery. The Danes did have their own opportunities when a Jakobsen free kick curled wide of the Celtic goal and Jeppe Curth’s effort slipped under the advancing Artur Boruc and past the post the post, after he had been played through intelligently by Augustinussen.

Celtic upped the tempo in the second forty five minutes as they sought to take all three points. Scott Brown had a great opportunity to open the scoring after a Hinkel cross but he put the ball over the bar. Shunsuke Nakamura was next to threaten when he almost scored directly from a corner kick but Zaza, in the Aalborg goal, managed to punch the ball clear. Georgios Samaras narrowly missed the target when he turned cleverly in the box only to see his shot fizz past the post. The Greek had another opportunity to break the deadlock after a Nakamura pass. However, there was just too much weight on the ball for the big striker to be able to direct a shot on target. The Danes really only threatened with one piece of play in the second half. After a delivery into the box, former Wigan man, Johansson, headed the ball across goal, but Jeppe Curth could only manage to direct his effort off target. It was Samaras, again, who was at the centre of the action soon after when he was played in on goal by Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink who had replaced Shaun Maloney. The opportunity was squandered as Samaras struggled to create the space to get his shot away.

Gordon Strachan’s men had the ball in the net in the 77^th minute after some good play. Scott Brown exchanged passes with Nakamura before slotting the ball home only for the linesman to rule the goal out for offside despite television pictures showing otherwise. The most controversial moment of the game came in 79 minutes when Michael Beauchamp was sent off after a Jakobsen foul on Samaras. It was a case of mistaken identity as referee Matteo Trefoloni brandished the red card at the wrong player. From the free kick that followed, Zaza made a terrific save to tip the ball over the bar as Nakamura tried to rescue all three points for the Hoops.

It was not to be for Celtic as the Danes held out for a memorable result. Gordon Strachan now believes that his side must win on their travels if they are to qualify from Group E. He said: “…we’ve got to go and try and win a game away from home. That was our target before we started and it has become imperative now…” The Celtic boss refused to point the finger at Barry Robson for his penalty miss that could have won the game: ”Barry was a big performer last season and he will do it again.”

Bruce Rioch was thrilled with his team’s effort on the night describing it as a “super evening.” He added: “…I’m absolutely delighted and it’s a great result for Danish football as well.”

This was a game that Celtic would have hoped to have won in order to boost their qualification hopes .With Manchester United and Villarreal also drawing in the Group’s other match-up, perhaps the result is not as bad as is feared. Celtic will have to vastly improve upon their performance if they are to get a result from their next match against Villarreal. But for a poor decision by the linesman, the club would have been celebrating victory in their opening game. As it is, they find themselves locked in a group with all four teams level with one point each. Considering that the SPL Champions have still to face Champions League holders, Manchester United and come up against La Liga Runners-Up, Villarreal, in a fortnight’s time, qualifying is going to be a tall order. If the Hoops do manage to claw their way out of Group E it will be a tremendous achievement for a club that has, as yet, failed to relive the European glories of the past and write its name in modern history.

Jonathan Simmons

Full Time – Celtic 0-0 Aalborg

Teams

Celtic – Boruc, Hinkel, Caldwell, McManus, Naylor,

Nakamura, S Brown, Robson, Maloney (Vennegoor of Hesselink, 72),

Samaras, McDonald (McGeady, 63).

Subs not used – M Brown, Hartley, Wilson, Crosas, Loovens.

Booked – McManus, Samaras.

Aalborg – Zaza, Beauchamp, Olfers, Jakobsen, Pedersen,

Augustinussen, Curth (Lasse Nielsen, 85), Johansson, Risgaard,

Enevoldsen, Saganowski.

Subs not used – Stenild, Due, Caca, Braemer, Kristensen, Ronnie Schwartz Nielsen.

Booked – Johannson.

Sent off – Beauchamp.

Attendance – 57,432

Referee – Matteo Trefoloni (Ita)

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Written by the_squirter · Filed Under Scottish Football, UEFA Champions League

Comments

One Response to “‘AAL’ IS NOT LOST”

ross_hart on September 19th, 2008 4:23 am

For me, Celtic lacked ideas throughout the game and apart from the penalty and free-kick, the goalkeeper didn’t have an awful lot to do.

I don’t think Celtic themselves underestimated Aalborg but I think many of their supporters did- they are no mugs. However, people before the group started had Man Utd and Celtic as 1 and 2- they seemed to forget about Villarreal.

As Strachan said, they must get something in El Madrigal. Defeat there and, presumably United winning, would have Celtic 3 points adrift of both with two games with United to come.

The fact their away record in the Champions League is nothing short of shocking doesn’t give me great confidence for them either. What Strachan mustn’t do is go to Spain and set up in a defensive manner- that will be catastrophic. Celtic for me are at their best when they take the game to the opposition and that is what they have to do in Villarreal.

Celtic are not out of this by a long way, but round 2 will go a long way to determining whether they will challenge for a last 16 place or a UEFA Cup spot.

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