Celtic were left needing to win at least one of their remaining Champions League games if they are to continue in Europe after christmas despite earning a draw in Germany last night.

Moussa Dembele’s penalty cancelled out Lindt’s opener for Borussia Moenchengladbach but despite a couple of late chances the hoops couldn’t quite finish them off.

It finished 1-1 but the truth is it could easily have gone either way, and both sides will rue misses that could have turned this game into a six goal thriller.

Celtic were unlucky when Sinclair curled a shot onto the post, as were Borussia when Hahn did the same thing in the second half, and both keepers were forced to make saves that were befitting a game at this level.

Celtic showed great patience after the equaliser, and probed rather than pummelled the German defence, which almost brought about the winner through subs Liam Henderson, who couldn;t believe the space he got, and Calum MacGregor , who did well to get into a one on one position after a great ball from another sub Patrick Roberts.  but the tight angle made it more difficult to score than some would argue.

A draw was a fair result, and another sign of progress under the new manager, but it may turn out to be too little too late as Manchester City justified their wage packets by turning in a superb second half performance to beat Barcelona 3-1.

As you can see, their crowd went doo lally with delight..

The group now looks like this..

Group C

It doesn’t look good for Celtic, but it could be worse. As Borussia already have four points, two draws in the next two games would see Celtic eliminated from Europe because of the head to head.

However, a win in Manchester next week coupled with a defeat for Borussia in Barcelona would place the hoops above the Germans, so to secure Europa football one win and equalling or bettering the Germans against Manchester city at home to Barcelona would do.

To stay in the Champions League, two wins, and  Manchester city failing to win against Borussia would see Celtic qualify and sevral liver transplants booked for January.

I’m still optimistic.

Last night all five defenders played superbly, especially Emilio Izaguirre, and it was nice to see a bit of aggression in the side. Craig Gordon was on hand to do what he had to, he couldn;t be blamed for the goal, and by and large the other defenders did their bit.

Scott Brown was outstanding again, and bar one or two mistakes, he was ably and energetically supported by Stuart Armstrong.

The play was switched between the three attacking midfielders, who again, worked their hearts out, and Moussa Dembele, for me, had his best game so far for Celtic.

Although he could do with someone alongside him. his style suits having a partner, if only to distract defenders so he can get a bit more space.

He won a few headers, and found himself in space a few times, but there was no one to help him out, and had there been, especially late on, things may have been different.

But it is what it is, and it shows how far we’ve come that we all feel more than a little disappointed Celtic didn;t record only their second away win at this level, but that can wait a couple of weeks.

Maybe I’m daft, but there’s no reason to give up on this season so far….and Moussa Dembele agrees..

We’ll keep believing we can continue,

We’ll take it game-by-game and hopefully we can still be in Europe.

“I think we played much better football (in Germany), we believed in ourselves and we had a lot of chances.

“We deserved better in the game.

We keep learning and hopefully in the next one we can get a result.”

Unusually for Rodgers, though probably a measure of his disappointment, he singled out Calum MacGregor for public criticism after the substitute had missed a late chance to win the game;

We should have scored.

He has either got to score or square it to finish,” See when I get him in the dressing room, I’m going to cut his balls off and roll them down the corridor.

 “I thought some of our link-up play to create the possibilities was excellent.

“He has arrived into the box and had his shot but unfortunately for us it didn’t go in.

“It is very important to create the opportunity but that was probably the moment we felt we could win it.” 


Eagle eyed readers may well have spotted the sentence added to that quote by the author.

But before that, and you can see how he may just be upset, Rodgers had said..

“I’m disappointed we didn’t win the game. I thought we were the best team.

“I’m really proud of the players because I said them that, in order for us to improve, we needed to play with personality.

“And the personality we showed in the game was outstanding.

“We were very brave on the ball and opened up the pitch to play. We built the game and secured the game created chances with real speed on the counter attack and we had chances to win.

“We hit the post and could have scored at the end. 

……

“But that result was no more that we deserved, I felt.

“It was an outstanding team performance and the beginning for us, really, at this level in terms of the personality we need to play with.

“What was important for us was to get some sort of result.

“But I said to the players beforehand that win lose or draw I wanted us to play the way we know we can.

“I wanted to show we can come away to a really tough place in Europe and perform.

“So for me they deserve a huge amount of credit.  

Rodgers has every right to be proud of his players, and pleased with his own contribution. After the seven goal drubbing at the Nou Camp, the players could have been traumatised. Instead, they’ve given us a couple of nights to remeber, and there’s still an outside-so far outside that its only visible with binoculars-chance of remaining in europe after Christmas.

Even if we don’t, there’s been nothing to be ashamed of, and for once, we can actually look forward to the next campaign instead of dreading it.

The big problem will be trying to hold on to a couple of the better players.

Teirney, Simunovic, Sinclair and especially Dembele have all attracted their suitors, and it will be difficult for Rodgers to keeo this squad together and strengthen wth a couple of transfer windows in between.

Still, thats a problem for another day, and you’ll be relieved to know its not just one that affects Celtic.

New kids on the block “rangers ” have a level they are trying to aspire to as well, as they try to consolidate their place in the top division, and it looks like they are working flat out to avoid their talent being plundered;

Rangers confident they can hold on to kid Billy Gilmour with

promise of pathway to the Ibrox first team

Who ?

THE midfielder is signed at Ibrox until the end of the season at least but English clubs can make their move as soon as he turns 16.

Ah. He must be their Karamoke and Moussa Dembele all rolled into one.

RANGERS remain confident they can keep Billy Gilmour with the promise of a clear development pathway in the coming 18 months all the way to first-team level.

The 15-year-old could be lost to the big guns of English football for as little as £100,000 with Chelsea, Manchester City , Arsenal and Manchester United all eyeing a move for the kid, currently starring for Scotland in the Victory Shield in Edinburgh.

Tottenham, Everton and Southampton are also keen on the midfielder, who has been tipped for a top team breakthrough soon if he commits to the Ibrox club.

Gilmour, from Ayrshire, is signed to Rangers until the end of the season at least, but English clubs can make their move as soon as he turns 16.

Perhaps Chelsea, Manchester city and Arsenal see him lining up alongside Moussa Dembele in five or six years time.

Its good to see the Record highlighting this problem, in fairness, as cash strapped Scottish minnows can ill afford to lose out financially to wealthy English raiders, but at least the Ibrox club can take comfort from the fact that Celtic could have said to have robbed Dembele from Fulham, paying only £500,000, whilst remaining confident that biddin gfor the Frenchman will probably start at around £20 million.

I hope that makes them feel better.

Especially this guy, who presumably saw his bet go down at roughly the same time Dembele was pulled down…

The two games with A German Team, as they have become known, show exactly what football should be about, two great games, watched by two great sets of supporters.

Borussia also showed that they are a club to be respected when they handed a cheque for 3,000 euros to the Celtic Foundation, for the choir that sang to them when they were in Glasgow.

Yesterdays caption, the dog who thinks he’s a fish..

was won by this subtle entry..