Dumped by the Dutch but Deila is still happy
CELTIC may have slipped further behind in the Premiership standings but a bullish Ronny Deila insists the decision to take on PSV Eindhoven in Gran Canaria was fully justified.
While Aberdeen were braving a Scottish gale to beat St Mirren in Paisley, the champions were in the more tranquil surroundings of Maspalomas, even if a stiff breeze coming in off the Atlantic cooled the effects of the sun and made it tough for either side to achieve fluency.
The Dutch league leaders won courtesy of a goal from Memphis Depay, the 20-year-old winger who impressed so much for Holland at last summer’s World Cup in Brazil that he was shortlisted for the Young Player of the Tournament award.
The chance to face a player of such quality was high in Deila’s thinking when he agreed an invitation to play in the Maspalomas Cup.
With a Europa League tie against Inter Milan looming, Deila insists it was important to take on high-class continental opposition, even if it meant losing ground domestically.
‘We faced a good team and I think we got what we wanted out of the game and came through it without big injuries,’ said the Celtic boss.
‘It’s tougher to get the ball back against a team like PSV than it is in Scotland.
‘That is a good level. We had a few chances and they had one or two. It was quite an even game but they had the extra bit of quality to win it.’
The state of the pitch at the Maspalomas Stadium did not help and seemed a contributory factor in the incident that saw Celtic captain Scott Brown suffer a nasty head wound early in the match. The midfielder seemed to catch his foot as he attempted a third-minute tackle and, as he fell, his head collided with an opposing boot, cutting open his forehead.
Brown was back on his feet quickly enough but left the field bloodied and was soon on his way to hospital.
‘He caught his foot and then he stumbled and put his head into the opponent’s knee,’ said Deila.
‘The pitch was not so hard but it was dry and not in the best condition. It was difficult for both teams to pass the ball.’
Brown won’t play in Celtic’s second game against Sparta Prague on Tuesday but Deila expects him to be back for the team’s Premiership fixture at Hamilton next weekend.
With Craig Gordon rested, Lukasz Zaluska started in goal, while Darnell Fisher came in for Adam Matthews at right-back. Otherwise, it was a strong Celtic line-up — but with a crucial change in formation.
Games such as these are ripe for experimenting and Deila made good on his promise to give Stefan Scepovic and John Guidetti the chance to operate as a partnership.
After an explosive spell, Guidetti has struggled of late, while £2.3million buy Scepovic has been feeding off scraps as the Man City loanee has hogged the lone striker’s role.
The hope was that both would benefit from the coupling — but neither fared particularly well.
Guidetti looks a shadow of the player who scored for fun earlier in the season and his body language reflected the fact before he eventually hobbled off — Deila later confirming the knock wasn’t serious.
Scepovic offered more threat, nodding an Emilio Izaguirre header against the post but Celtic’s delivery was not in the same league as PSV.
Depay was particularly impressive. After sclaffing an early opportunity to score, he showed his threat from a couple of powerful free-kicks, one which swept just wide of the post.
Eventually, he got his goal when Jurgen Locadia’s cross skimmed off the head of Virgil van Dijk. Depay chested it down and thumped his finish past Zaluska.
PSV boss Phillip Cocu did Celtic a favour by substituting Depay for Jetro Willems at half-time but the Dutchmen remained on top.
Brown’s withdrawal had afforded Deila the chance to give Aleksandar Tonev — midway through his lengthy domestic ban — a run-out but, without either their captain or regular starter Stefan Johansen, they were outmanoeuvred in midfield.
Zaluska saved from Marcel Ritzmaier, Locadia fired wide and then captain Andres Guardado’s shot was deflected on to the crossbar as the game fizzled out.