CAMP NOU tales of past and present may offer Celtic a sliver of hope as they prepare to enter one of football’s most intimidating arenas.
Playing Barcelona and their almost endless array of stellar talent would be a difficult enough proposition were the teams to line up on a dirt pitch with nobody watching. Having to do so in front of 100,000 partisan fans inside this cavernous cathedral, the stands towering high into the night sky, would seem to make getting a positive result almost an impossible task. There is a reason Barcelona do not lose too often at home.
It has been known, however, and that is something Celtic will cling to as they open their Champions League group campaign with perhaps the hardest fixture in world football. In doing so they will aim to become the first Scottish team to beat Barcelona on their own patch since Dundee United did so in the quarter-final of the UEFA Cup almost 30 years ago, knocking the Catalan side out over two legs on their way to reaching the final.
Read more: Brendan Rodgers: Celtic shouldn't be on the same pitch as Barcelona but we can get a result in the Nou Camp
Gary Lineker has almost banished the memory of that evening of March 1987. The Englishman spent three largely successful seasons at the Nou Camp, winning over the locals by embarking on a hot scoring streak that included a hat-trick against Real Madrid. Against Jim McLean’s unfashionable but tenacious side, however, he would draw a blank.
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“I was just getting over that result – thanks for reminding me,” joked the man who will again host BT Sport’s coverage of the Champions League this season. “I remember being whistled off at the end by our supporters which is not a good sign. It wasn’t a good night for us, or a good tie. But Dundee United played really well and above themselves and embarrassed us. Both clubs are really different now. In those days Scottish football was a lot more competitive in Europe than it is now. And the Barcelona of today have the greats.”
They did not have all the greats on Saturday, however, and for that they paid a heavy price. Starting without Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Jordi Alba and Gerard Pique, Barcelona’s hitherto perfect start to the season was broken by the most unlikely of sides, newly-promoted side Alaves travelling to the Nou Camp and running out 2-1 winners.
All five will likely return for this evening’s game as Barcelona look to atone for their loss. That would seem to make Celtic’s chances of getting a result even harder but Lineker doesn’t agree.
“It’s always good to go to a team after they’ve lost a match, rather than after they’ve won a match,” he added. “Confidence plays a big part in football, even with the great teams like Barcelona. The wounded animal theory is one I don’t believe in. I think you’re much better going to face a team that’s a little bit out of form, a little bit rusty after a few players have been away on international duty, then taking on one that’s bang in-form and scoring half a dozen goals in each game. It still won’t make it easy but if there is a good time to play Barcelona it’s when they’re not firing. That’s just common sense.”
The Nou Camp atmosphere, Lineker admits from first-hand experience, can often work to the home side’s advantage but revealed that the team usually need to warm up the crowd, rather than the other way around.
“In the Nou Camp while there’s a massive crowd, 100,000 – or 120,000 in my day – they wait to be entertained, they don’t have that kind ferocious support singing songs like they do back here,” he said.
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“It is different – except when they play Real Madrid, which is unbelievable. But the other games, while they might applaud, they are quite a wealthy crowd, they are all socios, all members. They are more like the kind of people who might go to the opera in this country. It is different. The stadium is massive, huge and it is always full. But the atmosphere is not always as amazing as it certainly would be back here.”
Lineker hopes Celtic do well in the competition, just as he does for England’s four representatives including his beloved Leicester City who take their Champions League bow tomorrow night. The realist in him, though, can’t see Brendan Rodgers’ side making it through from a group that also includes Manchester City and Borussia Moenchengladbach.
“I think they’ve been unlucky and lucky,” he said of Celtic’s draw. “Unlucky in the sense that the group looks almost impregnable, really difficult for them to get through against that kind of opposition. But at the same time there are massively exciting games for Celtic’s fans to look forward to. Big nights at Celtic Park always produce a sensational atmosphere. If you’re going to get a tough group then at least get one with exciting opposition and they’ve got that here. In terms of getting through it’s a long shot. But long shots happen every now and again.” Dundee United can confirm as much.
- BT Sport is the only place to watch all four major football competitions in one place, with exclusively live coverage of the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and the Emirates FA Cup. Watch Leicester versus Club Brugge in the UEFA Champions League exclusively live on BT Sport 2 from 7pm tomorrow.
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