Talk of Ambrose in and Sammy out.
Celtic on TV3 and ITV. Other one on sky.
Incredible team selection really. Ambrose in, Izaguirre and Forrest in, Matthews and Ledley on the bench, Mulgrew in midfield and Samaras not fit enough to be in the squad.
Both Welsh lads will be disappointed to be left out. Ledley in particular can feel hard done by. But rarely get a Lennon team selection right and we usually get results. We have a strong bench anyway.
Celtic: 4-5-1 / 4-3-3
Forster,
Lustig, Ambrose, Wilson, Izaguirre,
Forrest, Brown, Wanyama, Mulgrew, Commons,
Hooper.
Subs: Zaluska, Matthews, Kayal, Ledley, Miku, Watt, Lassad.
Could be 4-4-1-1 either with Brown playing narrow on the right, Forrest going left and Commons playing centrally behind Hooper.
Forster,
Lustig, Ambrose, Wilson, Izaguirre,
Brown, Wanyama, Mulgrew, Forrest,
Commons,
Hooper.
Neil Lennon has earned the right to pick whatever team he wants but Iām astounded heās selected Ambrose (played the AFCON final in South Africa 48 hours ago and only arrived in Glasgow this morning) and Forrest (riddled with hamstring problems and hasnāt started a game in 3 months).
Also, Adam Matthews has probably been our best player since Christmas but I noticed him clutching his hamstring shortly after coming on as a sub on Saturday.
I guess he wants Forrest running at them down their left with their first choice players missing. Mulgrew was always going to play for his set piece delivery but I wasnāt expecting it to be in midfield at the expense of Ledley.
Thought Stokes would make the bench but I guess Mikuās and Wattās European performances stood to them.
Do you think it will be Commons or Mulgrew wide on the left Bandage?
You could also have Commons and Forrest on either flank and Brown pushing on ahead of Wanyama and Mulgrew to disrupt Pirlo.
Forrest and Commons could also switch flanks - he might want to get Lichtsteiner on the back foot dealing with someone dribbling at him rather than having him bomb on all game, as usual.
Lennonās teams are notoriously difficult to predict - the fact heās signed so many versatile players who can adapt to multiple positions adds another layer of complexity.
Juventus:
Buffon; Caceres, Barzagli, Bonucci; Peluso, Pirlo, Vidal, Marchisio, Lichtsteiner; Matri, Vucinic
Bit surprised at that eleven to be honest, has the Juventus XI been announced yet?
[quote=āRocko, post: 736792, member: 1ā]Thought Stokes would make the bench but I guess Mikuās and Wattās European performances stood to them.
Do you think it will be Commons or Mulgrew wide on the left Bandage?[/quote]
Iām very unsure. It could be Charlie in a 4-4-1-1 with Commons off the striker. Heās often played Forrest out there too. So many possibilities.
Juve are as expected:
Buffon,
Barzagli, Bonucci, Caceres,
Lichtsteiner, Vidal, Pirlo, Marchisio, Peluso,
Vucinic, Matri.
Caceres would be the weak link in that Juventus side, he is prone to making some very rash challenges.
And with Asamoah and De Ceglie the usual 1st and 2nd choice left wing backs out too then there may be potential for Forrest to exploit Caceres and Peluso.
Nice to see Adrian Bevington of the FA accompanying Rod Hodgson into Celtic Park.
Rocko, whereās the tricolour smiley?
Iām very surprised to see Ledley dropped. Marchisio and Vidal are excellent at making forays into the opponents box and Ledley would be by far our best midfielder at tracking runs.
With their home record and the fact that the man on the street like myself horsebox or runt would only recognise two of the juve team Celtic surely have a real chance tonight. Hopefully the most likeable soccer club in Europe can do the business again.
See you at half time, bhoys. Come on Celtic.
Green Brigade āLondon Callingā banner. Tremendous.
Come on to fuck Celtic.
Itās a pleasure to welcome Gigi to Ireland.