Could This Draw Suck Any More?
By: JT | August 3rd, 2007
Its highly unlikely. Celtic have drawn Russian league leaders FC Spartak Moskva, the team no one wanted to face, in the third qualifying round of the Champions League. The first leg is in Moscow on August 15, and will be played on TURF of all damn things! Not grass my friends, artificial friggin’ turf! What year is this, 1975? I’m already having nightmares about knees and ankles getting mangled! This is the same stadium where the Champions League Final will be played in May of 2008, but there will be a natural grass surface by then. Sweet. But not helpful to Celtic in any way. The return leg is in Glasgow on August 29 at Celtic Park and, shockingly, will be played on a lush grass surface where you won’t get a strawberry every time you tackle someone. Really, its not all that bad. Its not ideal, but the tie is certainly winnable.
A quick perusal of the Spartak roster reveals few names that I really recognize. Austria international defender Martin Stranzl is one I do remember from his Bundesliga days. Egor Titov has been one of the top Russian players for years. Roman Pavlyuchenko is Spartak’s leading scorer, and has been widely tipped for an eventual move to one of the bigger leagues. They’ve got some good players on their squad, no doubt.
WHY THIS DRAW SUCKS
1. Spartak are on top of the Russian Premier League and have played 18 games already.
2. The first leg will be on TURF! I’ve played American football on turf and let me tell you, lots of Bactine is required afterward. Rug burns!
3. Moscow is pretty damn far from Glasgow and the traveling support may not be as large as it normally would be.
WHY THIS DRAW AIN’T SO BAD
1. The second leg is at home.
2. There is no chance of looking beyond a club with as much quality as Spartak.
3. The tie is in August and not December. That would be cold.
4. Spartak is on top of the league, but have only taken 33 of 54 points and scored 24 goals while allowing 17. Not that great of a record for being top of the table, and certainly not unbeatable.
IDEAL SCENARIO
As in all these ties, an away goal rocks. If the Celts get it and perhaps a 1-1 draw from the first leg, they’ll be in fantastic shape heading home. Not exactly rocket science, I know, but what’s required to win these ties is pretty basic stuff.
Category: Celtic
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Comments
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hey! at least you have Billy Connolly as an ambassador
now THAT’S great
Posted from
Canada
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To answer your original question, No.
Posted from
United States -
Oh, poor you. Toulouse drew Liverpool for their first Champions League tie ever.
Posted from
Canada -
Marco, we actually watch old episodes of “Head of the Class” to get fired up at the pub before matches. Something’s gotta get you going early on a Sunday morning when the pub’s not serving yet.
Trent, thanks for the validation.
Sam, the difference is that Celtic were seeded and should have fared better then getting the Russian league leaders halfway though their season. Toulouse were expected to come up against a big club coming in.
Posted from
United States -
Spartak are on top of the Russian Premier League and have played 18 games already.
In unstated opposition to your observation is this: Celtic won just 3 of its 8 pre-season matches - and didn’t look too good in most of them.
Not only aren’t the Bhoys behind in fitness, they’re behind in form.
Add to that, when Celtic did play well, it was usually in the second half. I hope Celtic don’t wait until the second leg to put on a good performance.
BTW, JT, you’re really outdoing yourself. I didn’t post there, but great analysis on the season preview.
Posted from
United States -
One nice thing about this tie is that it basically means the SPL and Russian leagues will be playing directly for the 9th overall UEFA coefficient. Russia has it, we want it, and if we get it, our champion gets to start in the group stage rather than the 3rd qualifying, so its worth a lot of cash as well. Good luck to Celtic.
Posted from
United Kingdom -
JT,
I think there is little silver lining in this dark cloud,you guys are playing home in the 2nd leg. Atmosphere in Celtic park is awesome on European nights. Rafa always says that crowd is 12th man in Anfield. Same can be said about Celtic Park.Posted from
India -
(Trying this post again; I got slammed as spam{!} earlier.)
WHY THIS DRAW SUCKS
1. Spartak are on top of the Russian Premier League and have played 18 games already.JT, while this is, of course, an important aspect going into the match, I think that the opposite side of the coin needs to be stated; and it, too, is worrying:
–Celtic have played 8 pre-season friendlies, but have only won half of them. Aside from drubbing QPR (which is to be expected), Celtic have managed just one goal-per-match.
In other words, while Spartak are leading the league, Celtic is struggling to find any form whatsoever. Not good news.
The bright side is that Celtic’ll have two league matches to tune up a bit; and the second leg will be at home. Let’s pray for an away goal on Sept. 15.
*****
JT, by the way, you’ve done a smash-up job yet again in your season preview post. Unfortunately, I don’t get a chance to watch too many matches, so I depend on internet reports for my coverage of the Bhoys. I am glad to know that you’re in charge of the Celtic Offside report.
Posted from
United States -
Its a tough draw alright for Celtic. Fingers crossed they can make it. Although I’m sure Celtic will do very well in home leg. Historically, Russian sides have not competed well against British teams in Europe.
Posted from
United States
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