{"id":6671,"date":"2015-02-26T11:52:40","date_gmt":"2015-02-26T11:52:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/etims.net\/?p=6671"},"modified":"2015-02-26T11:52:40","modified_gmt":"2015-02-26T11:52:40","slug":"celtic-diary-thursday-february-26-we-can-do-this","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/etims.net\/?p=6671","title":{"rendered":"Celtic Diary Thursday February 26: We Can Do This"},"content":{"rendered":"

Celtic face Inter Milan in the second leg of the Europa League tie tonight in the San Siro, and with a bit of luck and a bit of effort, this team hs every chance of pulling off a great result.<\/p>\n

Well, when I say a bit of luck and a bit of effort what I mean is complete concentration and everyone playing to the best of their abilities. Same thing , really.<\/p>\n

Manager Ronny Deila was realistic;<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a good chance as we are in good shape now and have good confidence. We have everything to win now. We just have to go out there and give everything and be even better organised than we were the last time, and then we will have a chance.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t concede three goals again, and it\u2019s important we defend well, and hopefully we can keep a clean sheet as that will give us the best chance of going through.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cBut we have also shown we are capable of scoring a lot of goals and hopefully we can get one more than our opponent.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cInter have been doing well lately and I saw that in the game against Palermo and the game on Monday against Cagliari.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThey are in good shape and we meet them at a good time for them, but the game at Celtic Park and their game against Cagliari show that it\u2019s possible to create chances against them, and if we do that we have a good chance. Their biggest threat is their offence so we need to stop their strikers getting chances.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

We need to defend well. We have to be compact and disciplined, especially at the start of the game, and we have to be clinical when we get our chances.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The bit in bold is the important part. Bhoys can become men tonight, and begin their own chapter in Celtics history.<\/p>\n

But Ronny can only do so much. He can prepare them, motivate them, but he can’t play the game for them. Scott Brown needs to play the game of his life tonight. If he does what he does best then we are definitely in with a shout.<\/p>\n

Gary Mackay Steven stopped grinning long enough to tell a press conference;<\/p>\n

\u201cIt [San Siro] is an iconic stadium and Inter Milan are a massive club, but so are Celtic”<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re here not to be tourists but to do a job, and that’s to get a result. The first leg was good in a lot of ways but I feel there\u2019s a lot to come from us as a team as well so it\u2019s exciting.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cTomorrow night will be a very difficult test for us but we go into the game with confidence.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIf we can cut out errors and not give them too much space we can create chances ourselves, so there\u2019s no reason why we can\u2019t go into the game thinking we can win it.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

From that, it appears that the players know what went wrong in the first game, and are completely aware of what they can do to put it right.<\/p>\n

The players are ready. The supporters are ready.<\/p>\n

And the press are right behind the team;<\/p>\n

Three good reasons\u2026<\/h1>\n

why Celtic are in for a mauling in Milan<\/h1>\n

Ah, the Record. Wonder if they’ll have a bus over there like they did in Seville.<\/p>\n

CELTIC take on a \u00a360million team of superstars at the San Siro tomorrow night looking for their first ever win on Italian soil and we have three good reasons why their Europa League adventure is all but over.\u00a0<\/em><\/h2>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

WE have looked at the positives\u00a0and why Celtic have more than a fighting chance against Internazionale tomorrow night<\/a>\u00a0but there is no denying the odds are stacked against the Scottish champions.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Fair enough. We’ve conceded three away goals. We need a win.<\/p>\n

The Italians have not lost a game in Europe this season,\u00a0their side cost some \u00a360million more than Celtic\u2019s to assemble<\/a>\u00a0and they will include at least four players in their starting XI who were signed for more than \u00a310m.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0On that logic, Manchester City will be certs to overcome Barcelona.<\/p>\n

And here are three other good reasons why Celtic\u2019s\u00a0Europa League<\/a>\u00a0adventure ends tomorrow night.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Aye, hope springs eternal, eh, big man ?<\/p>\n

1 You don\u2019t have to work for your goals against Celtic\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

People have spoken about Ronny Deila\u2019s attacking philosophy and how open his team is, but when you look at the goals conceded –\u00a0<\/span>particularly last week v Inter<\/a>\u00a0– you will see a catalogue of individual errors. This Celtic defence – last week Izaguirre, Matthews and van Dijk were all guilty parties – has a habit of switching off completely and will gift Inter at least one good chance tomorrow night through a sloppy pass or a lazy clearance.\u00a0<\/span>And as the Italians proved in Glasgow,<\/a>\u00a0they will take them.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

So, a couple of uncharacteristic mistakes are actually a habit ?<\/p>\n

2 The Bhoys don\u2019t like the San Siro\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

You could argue that talk of hoodoos and superstitions are simply excuses for simpletons, but the fact is\u00a0<\/span>Celtic have a rotten record in Milan.<\/a>\u00a0Seven times they have gone to the San Siro now and the best they have managed are a couple of 0-0 draw back in the Sixties and Seventies. In fact, Celtic have yet to win in 11 visits to Italy. Their record reads – D3 L8.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Its \u00a0a little unfair to say the players don’t like the San Siro because previous line ups faltered over there. Against a different team.<\/p>\n

In fact, Celtic have played Inter once before in the San Siro. It was 0-0.<\/p>\n

Also in fact, Inter have never beaten Celtic over ninety minutes.<\/p>\n

Also Also in fact, something else in our favour is the number of players in the squad who have experience of the venue, if not the opponents. This was the line up against Milan in 2013, a game Celtic lost by two late goals<\/p>\n

Celtic<\/em><\/h3>\n