Villarreal 1-0 Celtic

[celtickieran89]

Battling Celtic lose again

A Marcos Senna free-kick was enough to make sure Celtic left Spain with nothing but a bit of pride.

Gordon Strachan will take heart from his sides first-half performance, which should have seen them go in at the break in front.

From the off there looked to be more of a plan in place than any of the previous adventures away in Europe. In keeping with the pre-match speculation, Celtic lined up in a 4-5-1 formation and kept Villarreal at bay. Although the Spanish side saw plenty of the ball, it was all in front of Celtic as they struggled to get in behind the green & white wall that The Bhoy's had put up.


When Celtic had the ball they didn't seem to panic as much as in previous away games, looking calmer and more confident as the half went on. There was plenty of movement in the Celtic side going forward. Although it didn't generate too many clear-cut chances, there was certainly a bit of menace about the side and it would have given Villarreal something to think about.

There were few chances in a tight first-half, with Guiseppe Rossi twice thwarted by Celtic's Artur Boruc. Georgios Samaras had arguably the best chance of the half, latching onto Mark Wilson's pass before prodding the ball against Diego Lopez.

After the interval, the 'yellow submarine' was more like a 'yellow rocket'. Villarreal emerged looking like a team possessed. The passing was slicker and the movement was quicker, and they were slicing the Celtic defence open. They continually exploited the lack of pace in the Celtic back line, but the Celts threw everything in front of the ball and tried to hold off their opponents.

As the game wore on the tiredness was creeping into the Celtic side more and more, and there was a sense of inevitability of where the game was heading. The goal came in the 67th minute in the form of a free-kick, taken by Villarreal's imperious captain, Marcos Senna.

Celtic threw on strike pair Jan Venegoor of Hesselink and Scott McDonald in an attempt to grab an equaliser, but found it increasingly difficult as Villareal held on to the ball superbly. In truth Villarreal looked the more likely to find the games second goal. Celtic's only real chance came from a ball out of defence, which was cushioned by Aiden McGeady into the path of Scott McDonald. However the Aussie's rasping first-time volley shaved the cross-bar.

Ultimately, there are positives Celtic can take from this game. It was better than we are used to in these away ties and there were several good performances throughout the side. The side must now focus on the SPL, before the do-or-die double header against the reigning champions of Europe, Manchester United.