As the day dawns on our qualifier in the Champions League against Spartak Moscow it is with trepidation and butterflies in our stomachs that we ‘look forward’ (from behind the couch -Dalek stylee!) as the kick off fast approaches.
If there were one team out of the many we could have been paired with for this tie, many would have wished to avoid Spartak. Make no mistakes this is a tough tie. In their domestic league they are currently top after playing 20 games! The positive spin of this is that they have only accrued 39 points out of a possible 60 and have only scored 29 goals. Hardly prolific are they? Or is this a sign of a vastly superior league? The fact that they have only scored 29 goals alludes to a team that is not prolific in front of goal. And the 19 goals that they have lost show that they are not impregnable. Make no mistakes this is a tough tie.
Celtic will be without talismanic goalie Artur Boruc for this leg of the tie. With respect to Mark Brown who is an able deputy this is a major concern for us. I expect Celtic to line up in a 4-5-1 formation something like this.
-----------------------------Brown------------------------
Wilson--------Kennedy---------McManus-----Naylor
Nakamura----Jarosik—Donati----Brown----McGeady
----------------------------JVH----------------------------
I think that Jarosik will play due to his experience of football in that neck of the woods and if he doesn’t play then Hartley will probably replace him. The only other suprises I can forsee are McGeady behind a lone striker (a la San Siro) or Miller up front instead of JVH.
One player who seems to have the bit between his teeth is Massimo Donati. It would appear that the tall Italian Midfielder is a tad perturbed by the Moscow scouts assertion that he was carrying a bit of weight! Speaking to the Evening Times ‘Super Mo’ said, "I am not too heavy. Look at me. Am I carrying any fat?"
But I will show what I can do when we play here tomorrow night."The former AC Milan midfielder also told the Evening Times: "Reaching the group stage is the first objective for the year.
"For me, and for the club, it is very very important.
"I am looking forward to playing in the Champions League. That is why I came to Celtic.
"I am 26 now and I want to play in an important competition like this."
Donati is delighted that standing shoulder to shoulder with him against the might of Spartak will be Scott Brown.
He said: "Scott is a fantastic player.
"I didn't know him before I came here. But he is a very energetic player. He is also intelligent and has a fantastic future.
"I like playing with him in midfield because I can sit back and play balls while he can use his energy to get forward"
Lets hope that Skoosh manages to do a bit of foraging tonight!
Other comments out of team-Celtic last night came from full back Mark Wilson. Speaking in a press conference last night Willow said, "We are confident that we can keep a clean sheet and we’ve now played as the same back four in the two league games and in pre-season and I think it’s looked good," he said at the pre-match press conference in Moscow.
"Obviously we lost the early goal on Sunday against Falkirk, but apart from that I think we’ve played well.
"Both myself, Stephen (McManus) and big John (Kennedy) have known each other for a good few years, while Lee Naylor has come in and been fantastic - so it’s a good unit.
"And if there are injuries we have quality that can come into the centre of the defence, so it’s not just the back four as it is just now. We also have the likes of Gary Caldwell and Steven Pressley who can come in and make the defence solid."
The understanding that has been forged between the players will be a boost as they set out to tackle a match which will be played in an unfamiliar environment.
The Celtic players will have to adapt to not only a ‘field-turf’ playing surface, but also the intense summer heat in the Russian capital, although a training session yesterday gave them an idea of what to expect.
"It’s a bit different from grass, the way the ball holds up and the way that when you pass it, it is not running as slickly as it would on grass," said Wilson.
"That’s something that we have to keep in mind tomorrow. Balls that we hit longer or that they hit longer are going to hold up, but we had a good training session this morning and it was good to get out and get a run on it.
"The heat is also something that we’ll have to contend with and it’s unusual, because when I saw the draw I thought it was going to be cold!
"I obviously didn’t know much about the weather here, but luckily we have been in America, where we played in roughly the same heat and humidity. We got used to the heat out there and in hindsight, it was good preparation for coming here.
"Because of the rubber that is knitted into the pitch, it also makes the ground very hot under your feet, so hopefully it will be a few degrees cooler by kick-off."
The game is on live tonight on Setanta Sports 2 at 5pm. Lets hope that we are celebrating at least an away goal come tea time!
Yours in Celtic
Clydebuilt