Advantage Celtic



Young McGregor Continues Fine Form


Celtic have come away from Slovenia with an impressive away draw to NK Maribor. Celtic's previous round against Legia Warsaw was not one which will live long in the memory as a football match. Celtic's naivety and defensive frailty was cruelly taken advantage of and it exposed Celtic's biggest weaknesses.

One of the errors which the manager and the players were responsible for was a lack of composure. Celtic went chasing a game with only 10 men and were picked apart. The performance last night was miles away from the game in Warsaw. Celtic were cautious in their play, choosing their moments better. A perfect example of this was in the last minute where Celtic had a corner and it was taken short. The Hoops showed an understanding that the draw was a great result to take back to Celtic Park.

Deila himself had to change tactics which may have seemed slightly alien to him. To be cautious, optimistically cautious, but careful nonetheless. It is this improvement and this realisation from the Celtic manager that will please fans the most. Knowing mistakes were made in the previous round and making sure that they didn't occur again. The perfect example was when Ambrose came on for Berget. A defensive substitution intended to hold on for the draw and keep it tight.

That Vital Away Goal​

This was exactly the type of performance the Bhoys should have had in Warsaw over two weeks ago. Maribor look like a decent outfit, nothing spectacular but they are definitely dangerous. Especially on the counterattack or when they are given space to thread balls into the big striker, Tavares. Celtic will have to be careful at Parkhead not to open up too much and be wary of this. Apart from that their defence doesn't look solid and aerially they look weak. With the noise of 60,000 Tims backing on the men in Hoops we should be able to roar the Bhoys onto victory and to qualify for the group stages of the CL for the third season in a row. ​