Celtic 0 - 0 AaB Aalborg

A disappointing 0-0 draw with Danish champions AaB Aalborg at Parkhead last night could have a devastating impact on Celtic's quest for a place in the last 16 of the Champions League for the third year running.

Celtic made two changes from the team that beat Motherwell 4-2, with Andreas Hinkel in for Mark Wilson and Shunsuke Nakamura replacing Marc Crosas in midfield. Georgios Samaras kept his place up front after impressing against Motherwell..

Despite having been written off by many, the underdogs Aalborg matched Celtic in the opening period of the game. This frustrated the home crowd, who were clearly expecting Celtic to make light work of the Danish champions. Celtic enjoyed the lions-share if possession but were unable to penetrate the well organised Aalborg defence.

Aalborg began to come more into the game and nearly scored on the 15th minute after a fast counter-attack and clinical pass by Curth caught McManus and Naylor unaware and Augustinussen latched onto the ball on the edge of the box and his attempt at slotting the ball home beat an out-coming Artur Boruc but went just feet wide of the goal.

But despite their lack of clear chances, Celtic were awarded a penalty after 28 minutes after Maloney's quick feet in the box bamboozled Aalborg defender Olfers whose late tackle let to the penalty award. However, midfielder Barry Robson's penalty was straight down the middle and hit goalkeeper Zaza's legs, thus denying Celtic the opening goal.

The match progressed until half-time with a lack of chances for either side, with no team managing to dominate and with both teams going into half-time feeling they could win the game.

With a rejuvenated home crowd spurring them on, Celtic started the second half briskly but were still unable to turn good passages of play into good chances with Nakamura's and Samaras' attempts hardly troubling the keeper.

Strachan introduces McGeady and Vennegoor of Hesselink to the game to try and find the goal that Celtic craved. And the substitutions nearly made an immediate impact with a good passing manoeuvre which led to the ball falling to Samaras who made a yard of space for himself on the edge of the six yard ox, but instead of squaring the ball or trying a shot, the Greek striker tried to round the keeper, who gratefully collected the ball.

An unbelievable mistake by the refereeing team on the 79th minute led to the wrong Aalborg player being sent off as Samaras was brought down by Jakobsen, who was adjudged to have been the last man, thus warranting a red card. However, after consultation, the referee sent off Beauchamp, with the Aalborg players protests wasting valuable minutes at a crucial stage in the game.

Nakamura's effort from the subsequent free kick was saved well by Zaza, who managed to tip it over the bar and Aalborg held out, with Celtic unable to find a way past the ten man defence in the closing stages, meaning Celtic's chances of qualifying have already taken a huge blow after this disappointing result.