Matchday 1 of the Europa League was certainly under a harsh Parkhead atmosphere. Not only due to a lack of supporters in the ground, but also the hostility from the breaths of most supporters worldwide following on from the horrific display witnessed at the weekend.
Despite the performance five days ago, which won’t be mentioned again, Lennon remained strong and unwilling to alter the system. A fatal error? With just over an hour to go, it was confirmed that the gaffer would be staying true to the 3-5-2 of playing. The usual culprits were there: Barkas, Duffy, Ajer, Frimpong, Brown, McGregor and Ntcham. On the other side of the fence saw guys such us Laxalt, Welsh, Ajeti and Griffiths all get nods in the areas of the park we were maybe unsure just who would get the nod on the night.
Both teams started the game very tentatively. Celtic had some great early opportunities in the form of Ajeti, who on a couple of occasions got in and around the Milan box with scuffed shots being the outcome. However, Celtic conceded on the stroke of the fifteen minute mark. A poor goal that came from a cross, Welsh at somewhat of an error but a failed attempt from Duffy to clear and Barkas once again being poor between the sticks are the two who will be pointed at. 1-0 Milan.
Instant negatives in the squad in the first half seemed to be both McGregor and Griffiths. Leigh seemed to have the occasional slack pass in him and McGregor seemed too eager to press, not a bad thing as a high press is usually the way to be, however, it looked a hopeless effort, constantly leaving him and the midfield out of position and was where Milan seemed to get up the pitch the most.
For the remainder of the half, minus the period of decent play early on, Celtic looked edgy. And suffered. Duffy caught out twice in the spell of half a minute really in all honest just shows everything about his Celtic career. His lack of pace at time is frightening I find myself head scratching at how he has gotten to this level and that’s before we talk about his defending ability. No doubt at fault for Milan’s second, 2-0 at half time.
Half time saw Celtic bring off Welsh and Griffiths and bring on Christie and Elyounoussi and settle into a 4-2-3-1. Christie on the right, Mo on the left. It would see the Celts are Here predicted XI get a forty five minute run out.
Christie, I must say, looked very keen to make an impact. He seems to just offer a certain something in European games that others in the midfield just fail to ever do.
It made a difference as Christie was on hand to whip a superb cross in to result in a great headed goal by Elyounoussi, who had been poor since he’d came on, 2-1 Milan, Game On!
For the remainder, Tom Rogic ran the show when it came to Celtic positive attacks, he now looks like an immensely experienced player who looks like he knows exactly what he’s doing. He slows the attack down but in the right moments. Instead of slowing the tempo, he slows the rush of blood to the head many midfielders tend to show outside the box. Welcome back Tam.
Celtic on the whole in the game played second fiddle to a bang average Milan side in my eyes. Yes they had the occasional big name in their arsenal, but they failed to overly impressive me. Our midfield looked lightyears behind. They weren’t even close to a par with the Milan outfit. That’s before the mention of the ability of what we had up front, nothing Edouard could fix.
I’m going to set aside Ntcham’s period of decent play early in the first half as I feel it just really isn’t good enough. Ajer and Laxalt for me were the only real positives to take. Ajer a decent performance and looked vocal throughout which is always nice to see. Laxalt looks like a player we can comfortably have at left back as he looked to bomb forward. Certainly, his domestic performances will be one to watch.
On the whole, Celtic were poor. Enough said really there. The positives to take. Start Rogic from now on. Laxalt superb, will definitely do this season. 4-2-3-1 please gaffer. We now look forward to Aberdeen on Sunday, a huge, huge game.
