Chapter 425: Aren't We Easy to Deal With?

Although Celtic are at the bottom of the Champions League round of 16, it will not be easy for any team to knock them out.

In this season's Champions League, Celtic have been outstanding.

In the fourth round of the UEFA Champions League play-offs, Celtic miraculously drew on the home team's turf in the first leg and returned to the park in the second leg, despite Celtic's favourable time and place, they were unable to settle the Muscovite man in 120 minutes.

However, in the brutal penalty shoot-out that followed, Celtic Poland's divine goalkeeper Boruc performed at the god level and finally defeated his opponent to advance to the group stage.

Celtic also performed very well in the group stage, with a win and a draw against Shakhtar Donetsk, as well as home wins over old rivals Benfica and group seeded AC Milan, especially in the latter game.

It was in the second round of the Champions League group stage, Celtic hosted AC Milan, Celtic took the lead at the beginning, and then Kaka's free kick helped AC Milan equalize the score, the Milanes thought it would be the beginning of the victory, but before the end, goalkeeper Dida's injury and McDonald's goal made them have to return with defeat.

Celtic's performance like this is naturally inseparable from the strength of their players.

Poland's sacred goalkeeper Boruc is the Celtic needle.

During the 2006 World Cup in Germany, Boruc was the main goalkeeper of the Polish team, and despite the poor performance of the Polish team, Boruc's agility still impressed the fans, and at the same time, Boruc was also favored by many European giants including AC Milan and Bayern Munich with his excellent performance.

The Celtics also have young talent McGiddy, who has become a mainstay in the Celtics' midfield since his promotion to the Celtics' first team.

Striker McDonald was also impressive, scoring the winner against AC Milan and becoming a hero in helping Celtic qualify from the group.

In addition, Celtic also has the well-known Japanese star Shunsuke Nakamura, who partnered McGeady in the midfield and swept almost every other team in the Soviet Super League.

Under the leadership of manager Strachan, the Celtic team has become the biggest dark horse in the Champions League, they are full of hard work and fighting spirit, and many media believe that Celtic are expected to stop Manchester City in the Champions League.

Strachan also has a certain amount of self-confidence, especially after the 'Manchester derby brawl', and he believes that Manchester City will be affected a lot, so Celtic have a better chance of winning.

However, the home-and-away schedule is not good for Celtic, and Strachan knows that if the team wants to eliminate Manchester City, they must have a bigger advantage at home, otherwise they will lose the opportunity to make up for their mistakes on the road.

'Manchester City had a good run in the group stage, but they have had some setbacks. Celtic will try their best to get the advantage at the Park and this is our chance and I believe my players will be able to play at home. ”

"We will use our performance to let all opponents know that Celtic are not an easy team to play against!"

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Strachan claims that Celtic will prove with their performances that they are not 'soft persimmons' in the Champions League.

When Strachan said this, there were still many media who disdained it, after all, Celtic is only a strong team in the Soviet Super League, and the Soviet Super League is nothing in Europe.

In contrast, Manchester City is a strong team in the Premier League, in recent years, the Champions League, whether it is fourth or first, the Premier League can have a very good performance, and even Liverpool won the Champions League in the 2004-2005 season.

Celtic did well in the Champions League group stage, but Manchester City did even better, and as a second-tier team, they finished first in the group with an overwhelming advantage, proving it all.

Perhaps the only thing that makes people admit is that Strachan puts Celtic in a weak position - compared to the Premier League champions, the Scottish giants are indeed much weaker.

However, what no one expected was that Strachan, or Celtic, would prove what they were saying with their performances.

Celtic Park Stadium.

In the 17th minute of the first half, Celtic striker McDonald helped Celtic score their first goal.

“1:0! Celtic lead Manchester City! ”

'It was McDonald who scored the goal, he scored a goal in the European group stage against AC Milan, and this is his third goal in the Champions League!

'City defended a little negligently, Dunn couldn't block the first point, and Ferreira in the back didn't hold his position, giving McDonald a chance......

After McDonald's goal, many media outlets were praising Celtic's performance.

In the previous games, Celtic were very aggressive, and their players were constantly running around the pitch, which also proved that they were well prepared for the game.

In contrast, Manchester City were also running aggressively, but in the opening game, they seemed to be a little out of shape, and as a result, Celtic scored a goal first.

But after the restart of the game, it can be seen that Manchester City is not in a hurry because of the goal conceded, they still play in a disciplined manner.

Celtic were still reeling in the goal, with many players smiling on their faces and others discussing goals with each other as they ran.

It was at this time that Manchester City also scored.

Just three minutes after Celtic scored, in the 20th minute of the game, City took advantage of a chance when Silva and Ivan Crewe cleverly linked up the wall on the right before Silva burst into the box and fired a right-footed pick.

The ball went over the head of goalkeeper Boruc and into the top corner of the goal.

1:1!

Even after the goal, the Celtic fans were still immersed in the goal just now, and they kept talking about it and thinking that Celtic were expected to knock out Manchester City.

But immediately after, they saw City finish the scoring.

The difference made the pitch loud and quiet so much that Celtic fans couldn't believe that the team had been tied so quickly.

After Manchester City's goal, the players celebrated excitedly, and the Manchester City fans who came to Glasgow with the team also waved and chanted, and Wan Sheng stood on the sidelines and waved to cheer for the goal.

"Silva!"

"After combining with Ivan Crewe, he broke into the Celtic penalty area alone and completed a wonderful volley ......"

'The Celtic players seem to be thinking about the goal they just scored, they didn't expect City to get their chance so soon!'

'It was a goal that proved the quality of Manchester City, they didn't work too hard, just a clever combination that brought the Celtic defence to the brink of collapse. Goalkeeper Boruc was also a little surprised by the speed of the shot, and he didn't react immediately......"

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Although Manchester City quickly equalized the score, there was no denying the play of Celtic.

In the home atmosphere at Celtic Park, every one of their players played quite well, and their dense defence and aggressive scrambling caused City a lot of problems.

As coach Strachan said, Celtic are not 'soft persimmons', they really fight, they still have a certain strength, and it is not surprising that they can beat AC Milan at home.

Soon Celtic proved it again.

After Manchester City's goal, the two teams fought fiercely in midfield, Manchester City had a certain advantage in possession, but it was not easy to score goals against Celtic's solid defence.

In addition, Celtic's advance and counterattack are still very threatening, their tough scrambling has brought a lot of trouble to Manchester City, and their straightforward cooperation can sometimes bring a lot of threat.

As a result, in the 37th minute of the game, the Manchester City defense was not paying attention, and Celtic used the counterattack to score a goal.

This time it was McGeady's cross from the left.

Wing-back Robson shook off Ivan Crewe's header and the ball arced past Wang Xiaolei and into the crossbar.

"Robson! Robson! ”

“2:1!!”

"Celtic are leading again! McGiddy's pass was very subtle, the ball landed right on the top of Robson's header, Robson's header was very tricky, Wang Xiaolei made a save, but the football position was too far out, no matter how long his arm was, he couldn't stop it......"

Robson's goal made the Celtics fans boil.

In fact, when Celtic is going to play the round of 16 knockout match with Manchester City, they actually think that Celtic has little chance in their hearts, after all, compared to Celtic's glory in the Soviet Super League, Manchester City will be much more brilliant in the Premier League, and so far the other party is still unbeaten in the Premier League, and there is almost no resistance in the Champions League, and Celtic's road to promotion is much more difficult.

This already illustrates the gap between the two teams.

That's why they were so excited when they saw Celtic score their first goal, and when City equalised quickly, they could only suppress that excitement.

Now Celtic have scored again!

This was very unexpected by the fans, and the Celtics fans didn't expect the team to play so well, so when Robson scored the goal, the Celtic Park stadium immediately boiled.

Many fans remembered what head coach Strachan said before the game, "...... The Celtics are not an easy team to play against! ”

Now every Celtic is extremely recognized, and they are proudly curling the corners of their mouths, as if to say, "Look, we're not easy to deal with!" (To be continued.) )