Thereās a bit of a preview and discussion coming up on the STV site imminently with Jackie McNamara, Gabriele Marcotti and some blogger type chaps:
Marcotti reckons Caceres will be the left of their three centre backs in Chielliniās continuing absence and he believes that side of the pitch can be exploited with the left wing backs Asamoah and De Ceglie out too.
Any love for playing Lustig rather than Mulgrew centre back? Heās played there at home to Benfica and in a couple of the post winter break SPL games with Ambrose away. It leaves the in form Matthews at right back and then thereās a Mulgrew/Izaguirre choice at left back.
[quote=āBandage, post: 736536, member: 9ā]Marcotti reckons Caceres will be the left of their three centre backs in Chielliniās continuing absence and he believes that side of the pitch can be exploited with the left wing backs Asamoah and De Ceglie out too.
Any love for playing Lustig rather than Mulgrew centre back? Heās played there at home to Benfica and in a couple of the post winter break SPL games with Ambrose away. It leaves the in form Matthews at right back and then thereās a Mulgrew/Izaguirre choice at left back.[/quote]
Hmmm Iād be tempted. Firstly itās highly unlikely obviously but it merits consideration. Iāll sleep on it if you donāt mind but first thoughts are that Iād still have Lustig and Matthews as my first two full backs. Mulgrew probably has to play for his set pieces and I donāt think heās any more comfortable or reliable at full back.
indeed, itās a huge endorsement of Peter Lawwellās stewardship of the club.
I always think 0-0 is a decent result at home in the first leg of a knock out tie, particularly for the underdog.
Much confidence in the likes of Mulgrew and Lustig holding out Juve tonight?
Are to to expect a Thomond Park esque rendition of āLow Lieā at Parkhead tonight?
[FONT=georgia][SIZE=26px]http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2013/feb/11/sir-alex-ferguson-tactical-nous-madrid[/SIZE][/FONT]
Efe Ambrose arrived back in Glasgow at 9am. Heās gone straight to the training ground. :megaclap:
A rallying cry from the manager on twitter too.
Iām listening to Westlifeās version of You Raise Me Up in work to get pumped for the game.
:rolleyes:
INCREDIBLE SCENES :o
Will Snoop Dog be there?
Will Brown and/or Ledley press Pirlo as part of a 4-3-3 / 4-5-1 with Wanyama sitting in front of the back four? Or will a second striker sit on Pirlo allowing the central midfield duo to remain compact in a 4-4-1-1 with Brown wide right?
What about Lichsteiner? How to combat his surges forward from right wing back? Would playing Samaras wide left engage Lichsteiner in a physical battle and limit his overlap potential?
But what will the overall Juve mindset be? Will they play their usual high octane, maximum intensity, hard pressing style and force Celtic back? Or will they play collectively deeper and adopt a more cautious approach? So many intriguing elements, chaps.
As an aside, Juve do not conform to the ātypical Italian teamā cliche, even though I expect Roy Keane to waffle on about that on ITV. Celtic wonāt match their possession but we retained an attacking threat against Barca and we can do so again here.
Their left hand side can be exploited with Chiellini, De Ceglie and Asamoah absent. Though I wouldnāt be shocked if the latter played some part. Mulgrewās set piece delivery will again be crucial too.
Celtic 2 Wall Catchers 1 is the final score tonight.
[quote=āBandage, post: 736674, member: 9ā]Will Brown and/or Ledley press Pirlo as part of a 4-3-3 / 4-5-1 with Wanyama sitting in front of the back four? Or will a second striker sit on Pirlo allowing the central midfield duo to remain compact in a 4-4-1-1 with Brown wide right?
What about Lichsteiner? How to combat his surges forward from right wing back? Would playing Samaras wide left engage Lichsteiner in a physical battle and limit his overlap potential?
But what will the overall Juve mindset be? Will they play their usual high octane, maximum intensity, hard pressing style and force Celtic back? Or will they play collectively deeper and adopt a more cautious approach? So many intriguing elements, chaps.
As an aside, Juve do not conform to the ātypical Italian teamā cliche, even though I expect Roy Keane to waffle on about that on ITV. Celtic wonāt match their possession but we retained an attacking threat against Barca and we can do so again here.
Their left hand side can be exploited with Chiellini, De Ceglie and Asamoah absent. Though I wouldnāt be shocked if the latter played some part. Mulgrewās set piece delivery will again be crucial too.[/quote]
Assuming Sammy is available then Iād have him staying wide to occupy Lichtsteiner and Ledley as the chief presser. While we played deep as a midfield against Barcelona I donāt think weād get away with that against Juve because Pirlo would do damage from there, unlike Song who became a passenger when we didnāt engage with him.
Reading a Guardian web chat with Ewan Murray to preview the match and he contends that Wanyama is the man to do a job on Pirlo. Surely theyāll rarely be within 10-15 yards of each other with Pirlo orchestrating from a deep-lying playmaker role and Wanyama anchoring Celticās midfield. In effect, they should be at the base of the respective midfields and I think itāll be Ledley and Brown taking turns to press and try to disrupt Pirlo.
Buffon on the Celtic Park atmosphere: āAs far as I can remember, no fan has ever scored a goal.ā
Somebody tell the cunt about Tony Watt and Barcelona.
[quote=āBandage, post: 736736, member: 9ā]Buffon on the Celtic Park atmosphere: āAs far as I can remember, no fan has ever scored a goal.ā
Somebody tell the cunt about Tony Watt and Barcelona.[/quote]
Wasnāt Paul McStay a Celtic fan?
Wahey! 
I am fucking PUMPED for this match tonight. 4 hours 18 minutes to go and counting.
[SIZE=14px][FONT=Georgia][FONT=Georgia]The great Arsene Wenger believes Celtic have a chance:[/FONT][/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=6][FONT=arial][SIZE=26px]Donāt assume Celtic v Juventus will be one-sided[/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=14px][FONT=Georgia]Celtic versus Juventus might look very imbalanced before the Champions League last-16 clash begins, but itās not as simple as that.[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=14px][FONT=arial][LEFT] [/LEFT][/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=14px][FONT=Georgia]Celtic are a paradox ā they are more than the sum of their parts and they have something special.[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=14px][FONT=Georgia]If you look at Celtic against Barcelona, for example: In the first match in Spain they had something like 11% of the possession and they almost won the match. In the return they had around 18% and they did win the game.[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=14px][FONT=Georgia]When a team can endure everything a side like Barcelona can throw at them and still win, what can make them afraid?
[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=14px][FONT=Georgia]It proves Celticās mental strength, and the quality of their organisation is very high.[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=14px][FONT=Georgia]Of course Juventus go into the match-up as favourite. But then again Barcelona was the extra-super-favourite. If Celtic do not panic in defence, they can be competitive.[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=14px][FONT=Georgia]That is not to say Juventus are not mentally strong. They are physically strong as well ā I would expect them to play with three defensive-midfield players and that will make them tough to break down. They are also strong in the air.[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=14px][FONT=Georgia][/FONT][/SIZE]
What games are on RTE and ITV tonight?
Or TV3