View From The Wing- Celtic 1 Benfica 0

When I took my seat last night and surveyed the scene, I couldn’t help but think back to the empty shell of a stadium that greeted the teams arrival in the CIS quarter final last week. As YNWA bellowed from the stands, the fabled and lauded European atmosphere crackled and exploded into the floodlit night.

While we are quite rightly praised for this atmosphere, European nights bring out the best and worst of the Celtic support. The backing can be second to none but the importance and tensions these nights generate mean there is more moaning and groaning than a low rent blue movie.

“Fans” live on their nerves. Any time the opposing team travel across the halfway line an audible panic descends. A simple ball over the top, that will be dealt wie comfortably, becomes a source of worry and a chance to berate the defence, midfield, attack, subs, manager, chairmen or the wee wimin selling the pies.

When the defender deals wie it comfortably, usually in oor case wie a hoof back to where it came from or to row Z, this is meet wie double the moans and groans. The usual suspects- listed above- get it in the necks again. Worse is when players don’t “see” passes. I say “see” as usually these passes are physically impossible or ability wise Ronaldinho, Kaka or Messiesq and not Naylor, McManus, Caldwell or Hartleyesq.

Yes, the atmosphere was fantastic but the contorted, vein popping oot of necks rages that I see some going into beggars belief. Take a chill pill, some valium- readily available in the streets surrounding CP- and appreciate that the Hoops step up a level in the CL and they rarely let us down at home.

Last night we just about shaded it. For the first twenty minutes of the game, I really thought we were in for a long night. Benfica started like the home side and created a decent goalscoring chance before the hoops had awoken from their slumber but once the game swung oor way, I can say this safely now, another scalp at fortress CP was never in doubt.

What was pleasing about the performance was unusually for us we created chances. We had 7 shots on goal, more than double our average in the previous 3 games. Also for the 1st time in the CL this season we reached over 50% possession, 54%, to quote the exact figure.

What the stats don’t show is that, last night we played team that needed a victory. A team that played for a victory, 5 shots on goal and 7 wide, a team that knew their European future depended on getting a result. With their usual Portuguese style and application they fancied their chances, make no mistake, just as wie oor style and application we fancied oor chances as well.

While beating Milan is fine and dandy, beating teams who are at the same level as you and competing for the same thing- ensuring UEFA cup football at least- is more important. Benfica like us are a decent UEFA cup team who luckily, like us, have a group where the 2nd to 4th seed on any given day can beat each other. Unfortunately for the Eagles of Lisboa any hope of 2nd spot and even 3rd spot has passed and they will be left to rue the missed chances v Donetsk and against us last night.

They played their part in a humdinger of a game. I agree oor manager and again here we are seldom but anything than entertaining on these nights. Oor flaws and strengths ensure this. From being defensively unstable, unstable in the sense we give teams chances and an inability to keep the ball in simple situations, to oor attacking threats, workrate, passion and sheer stubbornness ensure we give mobs a game something we really need to address when the next road trip comes round.

I have seen Celtic play better. If I was a Benfica fan I wouldnae be to down heartened regarding their performance as on other occasions it would have been good enough to get the points. They just meet a team that on the night had better individual performances and a team that had a cracking second half which reduced them to a spent force that disillusioned them so much it was only a matter of time before the obligatory red card was produced.

In oor outstanding individuals one man stood head and shoulders above them all. A player that, was for those of a certain age, a throw back to the good old fashioned wing play. Aiden McGeady was unplayable last night. Any sort of hyperbole, metaphors or bullshit wouldnae do him justice. So here is his interview here wie a comedy moment near the end.

His performance was that good, that it dwarfed the herculean workrate and narkiness factor that Skippy McDonald brought to the show, he overshadowed another faultless performance from Paul Hartley, another shift, so energy efficient it should be a party political broadcast for the green party, from Jarosik and a performance from Kennedy that made me realise for the first time since his return from injury that we may have a player there.

His performance also overshadowed another poor performance from Jan, a ying and yang performance from Scott Brown, one that went from brilliant to hair pulling frustrating all in one move, the limitations on the ball of some of the players and the tendency in the first period to hump aimless balls, missing out a midfield that wasn’t showing anyway in this period, to a centre forward who wasn’t showing anyway.

The limitations of the players canny be changed over night and it’s those limitations that will always make the earlier paragraphs concerning the fans reaction part and parcel of the European experience. These limitations mean that the game against Donetsk will probably be fraught wie the same danger as last night and also the same plus points.

The thing is that game will occupy my thoughts now that the real fitba has ended for a mid season break. I canny wait.

Forza