BeonyourGuard
Pep’s City slickers may be bigger threat than Barca
THE lament coming from the Celtic fans as they slowly trickled out of the Camp Nou after being hit for seven was probably ‘Well things can only get better’. Tomorrow, th e Parkh ead side will take on th e migh t of M anch ester City in Ch ampions League match day No.2, a match th at will be broadcast live on BT Sport, h oping th at th ey can put beh ind th em th eir Barcelona th rash ing and kick start th eir Group C campaign. Th e Hoops supporters wh o were present in th e Catalan capital earlier th is month may believe th at, given th e strength of th e opposition against th e La Liga ch ampions, th eir campaign proper will commence in Glasgow tomorrow. Sadly, I actually th ink th is game is anoth er one th at nobody will expect th em to take anyth ing from, and to be h onest th ey are probably righ t. For me, th e days wh en clubs like Celtic can upset th e h eavyweigh ts of Europe’s top competition are over. Th e gulf is just getting bigger. Th e Ch ampions League is evolving and not to th e benefit of clubs like Celtic. Look at match day No.1 wh en Borussia Dortmund hammered Legia Warsaw 6-0, and of course th e result in th e Camp Nou stands out. I don’t th ink it gets any easier for Celtic now. A h ome game sh ould level th e playing field, yet I don’t know th at it actually will. I th ink City could win th e Ch ampions League th is year, th ey have improved under Pep Guardiola. Th ey are slicker, th eir overall play is better. I’m looking at th is fixture as th e prelude to the two games with Monch engladbach. Th ey are th e important ones for Brendan Rodgers and h is team. Celtic are th e underdogs against th e Germans as well but th e genuine h ope Celtic fans h ave is to be in Europe after Ch ristmas, realistically in th e Europa League. Rodgers said h is team were too passive at th e Camp Nou, and h e’s righ t, th ey need to try and press City wh en th ey can. Th ey h ave h igh tech level and are comfortable on th e ball, but th e crowd can play th eir part. I remember Gordon Strach an saying th e supporters can only do so much , but I th ink th e positive way to look at it is th e pressure will be on th e visitors and th at can be a factor.
TURNING back to Celtic, I believe the key issue is their No.1 slot. Does Brendan pick Dorus de Vries (if fit) or Craig Gordon? Wh en De Vries was signed a lot of us th ough t h e‘d get a long run on th e assumption h e’d not signed to be reserve. However, h e’s not been totally convincing and at th e weekend you could lay blame at h is door for th e early concession of a goal to Kilmarnock from a ridiculous range. Domestically you go a long period with out doing so much , in Europe it’s different. In th e Camp Nou you could maybe say one of th e seven was h is fault at Neymar’s free-kick. It’s a test being a Celtic goalkeeper. I th ink Rodgers would still lean towards De Vries, but it’s getting to th e point wh ere anoth er mistake could see th e momentum swing back to Gordon. Celtic fans will be praying it doesn’t h appen tomorrow if h e’s th e man selected. Th e oth er main issue surrounds Leigh Griffith s. Th e forward h as been missing due to injury but in h is absence M oussa Dembele h as more th an proved h e is capable of pitch ing in with th e goals. Having said th at, I th ink if h e’s fit you h ave to play th e Scot. He scored at th e weekend and in a h ome game you want h im from th e start. Griffith s was th e catalyst against Be’er Sh eva and Fenerbah ce last season as well as M almo. You h ope th ere is a pattern th ere. I don’t th ink th ere are weak links in th is City team, it’s more about h ow you play th em. You h ave to try decide h ow to play. You can look at th eir personnel and you don’t see weakness. Th ey h ave improved immensely under Guardiola. Celtic will want to press th em and get in th eir faces. You can’t do th at for 90 minutes but an element of pressing will be important. You h ave to h ope some of th e City players h ave an off nigh t and th at th e h ome team can take full advantage.