Celtic must put the brakes on Helsinki momentum

Chief football writer

Thursday 26 July 2012

CELTIC are at that daft yet entirely logical point of a season when HJK Helsinki are a whole lot more worrying than Inter Milan.

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Michael Grant

A Finnish club with little continental pedigree can suddenly seem far more dangerous than a three-time European Cup winner when millions of pounds are on the line.

Celtic and HJK meet over the next two Wednesdays to contest a place in the Champions League play-offs, preceded for the Parkhead club by an attractive but meaningless home friendly against the giants from Italy. The Scottish champions are a bigger, richer and more prestigious club than their Finnish counterparts . . . and yet there are grounds for them to feel anxious. Being up-and-running in competitive football is a major advantage at this time of the year and Helsinki have already motored through 18 league games and two European qualifiers since their season began in April. Celtic aren't even out of the starting blocks, have played only five friendlies in which they have conceded seven goals and scored only two.

It is to their detriment – and a great leveller for a tie in which they would otherwise be favourites – that they are short of match fitness and touch just when a pair of strong performances will be essential. "Helsinki are probably in their best shape now," said Mikael Lustig, Celtic's Swedish international right-back. "To be honest, I don't think we are going to be in our best shape in a week's time, but we will be better than we are now. I think can get through without being at our absolute best but you cannot have that attitude in your mind. The possibility of playing in the Champions League here had a lot to do with my decision to sign. Celtic is a club that should play in Europe every year."Interestingly, given his own nationality and previous career in Scandinavian football, Lustig understood the general perception in this country that the champions of Scotland should usually get the better of the champions of Finland. "Absolutely. And we should be better than them. That is the answer. But they won 2-0 against Schalke last year so anything can happen in football. Why do I say we should be better? Because hopefully we have better players and are a bigger club."It was a year ago today that HJK defeated Schalke 2-0 in Finland and Celtic manager Neil Lennon will be as mindful of that as he will be that they crashed 6-1 in the second leg in Germany. Celtic have lost late summer/autumn qualifiers against Braga, Utrecht and Sion in Lennon's time in charge and if the Finns represent a step down in class compared to those teams, the drop is not enormous. "Helsinki have got momentum from playing in their league, week in week out," said Fraser Forster, the goalkeeper whose contractual conversion from loan to permanent signing remains only Celtic's piece of incoming business so far this summer. "That makes it tough but it's pointless worrying about it. "And fitness-wise you can achieve so much in a week at this stage of the season. It's just about that balance of getting the fitness work in and playing games as well. We've still got another week before the first game and we'll achieve a lot in that time."The first third of what became a championship-winning season was deeply turbulent for Celtic a year ago. They were immediately eliminated from the Europa League by FC Sion only to be a given a reprieve, and a place in the group stage, because the Swiss were punished for fielding ineligible players. In the Clydesdale Bank SPL they were 15 points behind in November, albeit with two games in hand. There was a lack of stability which was reflected in the fact their first 16 matches of the campaign featured 15 back-four combinations.That degree of uncertainty could be unsettling for a goalkeeper, Forster admitted. "Whether we play a three or four, or whatever we play, it's just nice to have a settled team. When we went on a great run last year it was almost the same 11 players every week, and then the ones who did come in did really well. But I think it is most important to have a solid back unit and spine of the team."Forster was at the club's Lennoxtown training centre yesterday to promote ticket sales for the Inter Milan friendly, which kicks off at Parkhead at 1.30pm on Saturday. "It's a great game to play just before going into the Champions League. It's a real test because we'll have to work hard for 90 minutes against their quality players. It's the perfect game to get everyone that bit fitter and sharper."Tickets for the match are still available and can be purchased from the Celtic Park ticket office, by telephoning 0871 226 1888 or via www.celticfc.net

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Celtic must put the brakes on Helsinki momentum

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