As the dust settled last Thursday evening on Celtic’s narrow but richly deserved 1-0 victory over Russian powerhouses Zenit St Petersburg, the punters must have filed out of Parkhead with a fresh sense of optimism of getting into the last 16 of the Europa League.
It was a wonderful performance full of technical and tactical quality. It was a much-needed shot in the arm not only for Celtic but for the whole of Scottish football.
Celtic haven’t been at it for long spells this season but they went from the first whistle against the Russians and looked back to the standards set last season.
I have always been one to talk up our game in general because I think we have a better product domestically than most give us credit for, but you need results at the sharp end of European football to validate that.
Rangers losing to Progrès and St Johnstone going out to FK Trakai hurt the reputation of our game massively. Celtic have taken some hammerings, admittedly from top opposition, but the Anderlecht defeat would have been the one that hurt Brendan Rodgers most.
It was the most insipid display I had seen from Celtic in a long time at home in Europe and Rodgers rightly gave his players it afterwards for the lack of quality and bravery in possession they had shown on the night. They had to be better than that. But the win and performance against Zenit has quickly consigned that Anderlecht game to the bin.
They looked right back to their best.
What I was hugely impressed and encouraged by was the performances of three homegrown lads who have come through the Celtic Academy to be trusted in big games by Rodgers. It’s not only fantastic for Celtic but for Scotland too.
I am of course talking about James Forrest, Kieran Tierney and Callum McGregor.
All three had fantastic games last week, particularly McGregor who has now started to win over the vast majority of the fans like Forrest has had to do. I have liked him from when he first broke into the team and always thought he was really underrated by a lot of people. Thankfully people are now realising what a good player he is. Callum has very much developed into a big game player and that is the sign of a great temperament.
What a fillip that game must have been not only for all the young players currently in the Academy but for the coaches at the club too. It lets the young lads at Celtic see that if they work hard and be the elite athlete on and off the pitch that Rodgers demands all his players to be, there is a path through into the first team.
That has not always been the case. It has been a long time since three homegrown players have come through the Celtic system to establish themselves as key players for the club at the highest levels.
As much as Celtic dominated the game and made a very good Zenit side look average, they could be made to pay for not killing the tie off. Zenit have lost just two home games in the Europa League in the last 16 years.
It is a quite staggering home record which will give Zenit and their supporters supreme confidence that they can turn it around inside their new 60,000 seater Krestovsky Stadium. They will still fully expect to go through. They have only failed to score once at home in the last 23 home Europa League ties, stretching back over a decade. Celtic will need to score at least once to get through this tie, I reckon.
No matter how many friendly games you play I know from experience there is no substitute for competitive fixtures. Zenit certainly looked leggy and undercooked in the first leg, but that 90 minutes and extra week’s training will sharpen them up considerably.
For the sake of the whole of Scottish football I really hope Celtic can advance to the last 16. Not only will it expose the young Scottish talent in the Celtic team to more games against top class opponents, but it can change the perception that many have of our domestic game.
It also helps our co-efficient. Make no mistake, Zenit would be a massive scalp for Celtic to take on Thursday night and would make a lot of teams sit up and take notice throughout Europe. Celtic have ploughed a lone furrow for many years now for our game in Europe. Let’s hope they have one more big performance in them in Russia.
AND ANOTHER THING
HIBERNIAN dished out what could be best described as a 2-0 hammering to Aberdeen at the weekend to not only get revenge for the shellacking they took from the Dons in the previous fixture at Pittodrie, but to put themselves right back into the mix to be best of the rest behind Celtic.
Flo Kamberi has hit the ground running with a few early goals but the signing of Scott Allan on loan from Celtic could be the Joker that trumps all Hibernian’s rivals come the end of the season.
Alongside John McGinn and Dylan McGeough, the Easter Road punters are in for a treat watching their beloved Hibees resurgent under such creative players. Enjoy them while you can.
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