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Celtic vs Barcelona Preview

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Saturday 30th July, 2016
International Champions Cup
Aviva Stadium
Dublin
Sky Sports 1: 17:45

On the 7th of November 2012, Celtic faced Barcelona in the Champions League group stage. At the time, the Catalonian giants were firmly considered to be the greatest club side in the world. Even though they were no longer under the stewardship of Pep Guardiola, the late Tito Vilanova had managed to continue the tradition of attractive, tiki-taka football and it was expected that Neil Lennon's Celtic would be powerless to stop them, even under the lights at Paradise.

What followed was without doubt Lennon's finest moment in the Celtic dugout as a heroic...

Toure Signs As Sinclair Deal Edges Closer​

Kolo Toure has heaped praise on Brendan Rodgers, after the pair were reunited yesterday when the 35 year-old Ivorian put pen to paper on a one-year deal with the Scottish Champions

Toure, who worked with Arsene Wenger, Roberto Mancini and Jurgen Klopp during a 14 year spell in the English top flight has insisted that the new Hoops boss is 'one of the best', adding he is 'looking forward to something really special' after making the move to Scotland.

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The kind words were reciprocated by Rodgers' assistant, Chris Davies, who hailed Toure for his ability, experience and leadership qualities.

"We are not only getting a really good player but someone who can inspire players around them to help the team."

Toure told Celtic TV he has been working with a...

Unlucky Celts lose on penalties against well organised Leicester

1 VS 1 (5-6 on penalties)

Celtic Park
Glasgow
Saturday 23rd July 2016
International Champions Cup Friendly

In a friendly which had been highly anticipated in both Scotland and England, it was Leicester who took the spoils in an open and entertaining pre-season clash at Celtic Park. Any game involving both the Scottish and English champions is sure to be more than just a 'friendly' and it was clear from the kick off that there was a slight edge to the game, as both sides set a decent tempo for the vast majority of the match.

As English Premier League champions, Leicester were obviously fancied by most prior to kick off. However with Celtic...

Job Done As Celts Ease Past Part-timers​

Celtic 3-0 Lincoln Red Imps: Hoops set up trip to Kazakhstan

Brendan Rodgers rung the changes after the first leg and it quickly looked a shrewd move. Celtic signaled their intentions early on as they instantly put pressure on their part-time opponents.

With Roberts and Forrest impressing in the opening stages, the hosts moved the ball around quickly and cranked up the pressure on the Red Imps.

A controversial decision within the first 10 minutes saw the referee back out of his decision to award Celtic a penalty, with replays showing the foul was made inside the box.
Further frustration came when Callum McGregor's deflected drive crashed off the crossbar as Rodgers' men continued to look for an opening. There was another penalty claim moments later, with Griffiths going down as he tried to collected a lofted pass.

The break...

Efe Ambrose. He is the man who is guaranteed to cost you a result on a fairly frequent basis. There aren't many Celtic fans who seriously want him to ever pull on the Hoops again, yet he was selected to start this evening. An early booking was just a sign of things to come. He was turned inside out for the Red Imps' goal.

The first half's main highlight was Scott Brown floating in a high ball from a free kick on the left hand side of the pitch, with new signing Moussa Dembele putting the ball into the net. The Swedish referee ruled that the goalkeeper had been fouled and the goal was disallowed. A poor decision.

Frustratingly, Leigh Griffiths found himself on the right hand side of the attack after...