It had been suggested that to stand any real chance of reaching the next round of Champions League qualification Celtic would need to take at least a two-goal lead into next week’s second leg against Qarabag. There was talk of exhausting journeys into the Azerbaijani unknown – as if the Scots will travel east by 19th-century steamboat – placing even more importance on getting a comprehensive result at home. As it transpired, Ronny Deila’s side were thankful to have anything at all to stow in their hand luggage.
“The game is definitely not won yet,” the Norwegian admitted, adding that the 1-0 win had been a reflection of the game as a whole. “In European football this is a good position. If we score [in Baku], they need three. I’m very happy that we didn’t concede against a very good team that was very hard to play against. We have given ourselves a good chance to go through now.”
Celtic might have been playing in front of their own fans, on their own patch, but this was still something of an exploratory job for Deila and his players. The Scottish game has little right in its current condition to harbour such arrogance but there remains the urge to write off any side rising from a footballing backwater like Azerbaijan. Few inside Parkhead could have recognised many of the visitors’ starting lineup but Qarabag are a better side than their pedigree and stature suggest and a significant step-up in quality from Stjarnan whom Celtic disposed of in the last round.
Dedryck Boyata’s winner – a thumping header from a corner kick, very similar to the one he scored in the previous round – therefore came as relief to a Parkhead crowd that had grown increasingly tetchy with every tepid pass or wayward clip into the channels, of which there were plenty.
With every game the former Manchester City centre-back looks more comfortable in his new surroundings and Belgium’s national team assistant, Vital Borkelmans, was there to watch another defensive prospect – as if his nation needs any more. “I didn’t know he was going to be here, so that was a nice surprise,” the 24-year-old Boyata said.
Much of the build-up had centred not on how Qarabag would line up but on whom Deila would favour up front; the Norwegian opted for Nadir Ciftci over the in-form Leigh Griffiths. “Actually it wasn’t so hard [a decision] because Leigh struggled all night with his teeth – he was at the dentist in the morning, so he didn’t sleep so much,” Deila said when asked how close a call it had been between the two strikers. “That made the decision easier, otherwise it would have been very hard.”
Celtic’s £1.5m summer signing from Dundee United, Ciftci is still awaiting his first goal in green and white and, on the basis of another erratic performance, he is no closer to finding the mark.
He passed up one particularly sparkling chance in the second half, shooting straight at the goalkeeper from only yards out following an uncharacteristically botched clearance by Qarabag inside their own area.
The miss prompted murmurings of Griffiths’ name from the home fans and Deila hooked the striker moments later.By next week Griffiths’ toothache should give way to a selection headache for Deila because Celtic are a more dynamic and energetic outfit with the former in the team.
As things stand the Scottish champions are still toiling to find their best form so early in the season and Deila is willing to accept that the trip to Azerbaijan presents his team with a great risk to their Champions League qualification campaign.
“We had pressure but we need to turn that pressure into more chances,” he said. “We need to play like we did for the Inter Milan game [last season] to get a good result.”
No comments:
Post a Comment