[Official TC Thread] Linfield vs Celtic 14 july 5pm, Champions League second round

The huns

 

Having a laugh surely ?

 

3-0 Celtic

 

4-0. Rogic, Griffiths x 2 and Sinclair.

 

It will be their cup final.

Do you think the gulf in class between us and the Champions of Gibralter is as close as the result of the first leg suggested? Do you think we're only a last minute goal better than Aberdeen?

We will be Linfield's biggest match in years and their players will be determined like never before. All this talk of an away win by a 3-4 goal margin is ridiculous.

 

They lost to Queen of South at last year's Challenge Cup

 

How many of our recent Champions League away games - including qualifiers -suggest that you're correct and I'm talking rubbish?

 

They are championship standard if we compare them to scottish teams, very worst i see happening is them grabbing a goal whilst we are 2/3-0 up.

 

Just in case anyone was wondering the highest aggregate victory in European Cup/Champions League history was in 1965/66 when Benfica beat Stade Dudelange of Luxembourg. On reflection that's an incredible achievement given the apparently unparalleled strength of football in Luxembourg.

 

It's ridiculous to suggest the invincible, treble winners, featuring Scott Sinclair, Moussa Dembele, Tom Rogic etc can comfortably beat a pish team from Northern Ireland?

Troll or a *, which is it?

 

Score wiz it???

 

It's an opinion. You don't have to agree with it if you don't want to.

If this site existed when we played St Pats it would be full of predictions of 3-4 goal margin wins.

We have had few great away wins - including qualifiers - in the Champions league era and last year lost to the Champions of Gibraltar.

People want us to thrash them as they're representing the Loyalist community of Northern Ireland and a significant percentage of their support would make some Ibrox regulars feel uncomfortable, but the truth is that they will play the game of their lives and make it incredibly difficult for us.

A close win - or even a defeat - would not be unprecedented or even the worse result in our history. What we did last year won't matter one iota in Belfast on Friday.

So, that's my opinion. Take it or leave it but I'm neither a troll or a *.

 

You said it was ridiculous to suggest we will beat Linfield by 3 or 4.

Aye it's an opinion but opinions can be * nonsense. Will be win 3 or 4-0? Maybe not. But it isn't even close to ridiculous to think we will.

I'd maybe understand your point a wee bit more if everyone was saying it'll be double figures.

It can be their cup final all they want. It isn't going to magically turn their players into world beaters. If we play anywhere near our best, we will pump them.

 

My problem is with the consistency of large wins being predicted as if anything in our recent away Champions league history - including qualifiers - suggests this is likely.

People thinking we'll turn up and embarrass them is ridiculous and as much as we hate a section of their fans - something we can all agree on - it is on par with the belittling we encounter when we play English sides.

And football is full of examples of minnows raising above their level and humbling a far bigger club. We've had it happen to us on a number of occasions and for all the talk that they'd have to become "World beaters" to beat a team who went unbeaten in Scotland, I remember Athlone Town holding an AC Milan side with some of the greatest players of their era - and we're surely not going to suggest that any of our current squad can be considered worthy of such accolades - 0-0.

If you know your Celtic history or your football history you know that these things do and can happen.

 

18-0 (10-0 and 8-0)

 

We wont be far off

 

We lost 1-0 in Rodgers first game almost this time last year against Lincoln if that's what you're referring to, I think we might have improved just a wee bit since that first leg? also Linfield are a tinpot club... we'll put a few past them in the first league then finish them off in the second