I spoke yesterday about the importance of hope going into our second leg tie with Bayern Munich. I doubt Brendan Rodgers or any of the players read my call to arms, but it seems his team talk had a similar effect.
Celtic may have finally succumbed to a last-minute sucker punch, but you’ll struggle to find any fan this morning who isn’t immensely proud of our team’s performance.
Amidst Praise, Plenty of Hope for the Future
I’m reminded of a previous experience I had following Celtic, along with my dad back in 2006. Shortly before I moved to Japan, we took a trip down to Old Trafford to see Celtic play Manchester United. It was a truly unforgettable night, and one that filled me with immense pride.
That we also narrowly lost that game was, in the grand scheme of things, largely inconsequential. In the 21st minute of that match, when Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink robbed Rio Ferdinand and stormed through to put Celtic 1-0 up on the night, the travelling support, including us, went absolutely wild.
Amidst the bedlam, my dad turned to me and said something I’ll never forget.
He said: “Son, always remember this moment. Regardless of how this game ends, you were here when Celtic went ahead of Manchester United, one of the best teams in the world, in the European Cup, on their own ground.”
Another Unforgettable European Moment
When Nicholas Kuhn stroked home the opener for Celtic last night, as I watched with bleary eyes at 6am here in Japan, that moment in Manchester came back into full focus in my mind.
“Whatever happens next, we are beating Bayern Munich, one of the best teams in the world, on their own turf” I silently said to myself.
Like Manchester, ultimately the final result didn’t go our way. But we can all proudly say, we went toe to toe with one of the best teams in World football today, and we gave them the fright of their lives.
So, Where Do We Go From Here?
What happens next is going to be the focus for discussions among us all over the weeks and indeed months ahead. The nature of the ending to last night’s match stings, and that hurt will, no doubt, linger for a while. However, once the dust settles, all that will remain is that Celtic did something very few teams have managed in recent times. We’ve gone into the Allianz Arena and left undefeated. That should make us all proud.
It also shows, beyond any doubt, in my mind, that Celtic belong at this level. Despite our limited resources, our sometimes obvious limitations in personnel and tactics, and our unfavorable status in one of Europe’s “smaller leagues” we’ve mixed it with the best, and we’ve given a tremendous account of ourselves.
A Blip or a Taste of Things to Come?
The debate around our Champions League Group Stage campaign largely centred around 2 results. The Yin and the Yang if you like, of Celtic in Europe. On one hand we had our tremendous and well-deserved home win over RB Leipzig, in stark contrast to our 7-1 drubbing at Borussia Dortmund.
For many, such utter collapses, especially away in Europe had become something of a norm. It was the unfortunate truth that Celtic, with our gung-ho style of play will, on occasion get an absolute battering.
I don’t think this trend will continue though. Since the Dortmund game, we’ve only lost two European matches, if you include last week’s first leg tie against Bayern. The other was at Aston Villa, where despite being hobbled by injuries and unexpected player departures, we still made an almighty fight of it.
A New Normal For Celtic
When we went 2-0 down in that game, I like many of you, feared another Dortmund. And yet, we pulled it back to 2-2. Yes, Villa’s class ultimately shone through in the end, but once again, we showed that we can compete. In the current climate, I think that’s what we, as Celtic fans, should expect. Of course along the way, we earned very respectable points away to Atalanta and Dynamo Zagreb, two games which, I’ve being honest, are the kind we usually expect to lose in Europe.
This needs to be our new normal. The club needs to back the manager in the summer to strengthen the areas where we need it, and refresh others. Celtic aren’t quite there yet, in terms of being a force to be feared in Europe once again. However, my biggest takeaway from this season’s European adventure is: we aren’t all that far away!