Looks two much to Hoop for
CELTIC face mission impossible in Spain tonight with bookies making them 20-1 to reach the last 16.
I’d want double or treble those odds from Betfred to even consider backing a miracle at the Mestalla.
Celtic’s Europa League hopes were booted into touch with a 2-0 home loss and pride is all Brendan Rodgers’s side can salvage.
There are positive noises coming from the club about the tie not being over and if Celtic score first they might give Valencia something to think about. That pays 11-5 at bet365.
But the gulf between the sides at Parkhead was so big the bet that tempts most is a home win at 16-25 with Marathonbet. Valencia SCOTT BROWN has confessed there will be nowhere for Celtic to hide in Valencia tonight – just as there was nowhere for him to hide under Jonny Hayes’s shirt at Kilmarnock. The Celtic skipper leads his troops into battle in Valencia on the back of his Rugby Park red card that sparked furore.
Brown was given a second yellow in Ayrshire seconds after bagging a crucial injury-time winner and punters spilled out on to the surface behind the goal to meet him.
The captain admits some of the abuse and finger-wagging he has been subject to from keyboard warriors and pundits is over the score as, although he understood referee Bobby Madden’s decision, he has no regrets over going nuts.
Brown, though, admitted there was an amusing aside to his ordering off with Hayes trying to smuggle him quietly from the scene of the crime.
He smiled and said: “Jonny tried to save me. He tried to put me underneath his wing, kidding on I wasn’t there and saying ‘I think we’ve got away with this, pal.’
“I’ve turned around and Bobby is standing right there. I said, ‘Jonny turn around.’ He said, ‘Yeah, okay, you’re in trouble!’
“People criticising have probably never kicked a ball in their lives, they’re sitting in the house being keyboard warriors, but I’m doing a job I love and it’s a celebration at the end of the day.
“Some referees might give you a booking, some might not, it’s just your luck.
“Bobby did what the rule says if you go off a tiny bit but everyone has to be in the same boat, although I know it’s hard for refs to be consistent like that.
“There are a few guys who got away with it last weekend but I understand the rule, especially if there are kids at the front of the stand and there are people there getting squashed.
“You don’t want to see people sprinting on to the park or anything but I didn’t exactly sprint off. It had been a long time since I’d scored and then I got two in a week, so it was emotional.
“I tried to stop myself before I went over the boards but, as soon as you score, the lads go towards