UEFA Cup Fourth Round, First Leg
Thursday 11th March 2004
Celtic Park
Kick Off 7.45, Live on Setanta
Many of us are too young to remember FC Barcelona's last visit to Celtic Park. For those of us not old enough to recall that night's 0-0 draw in 1967, tomorrow night's UEFA Cup tie is a dream come true. It doesn't get much bigger than Barcelona playing at Celtic Park, in front of a capacity 60,000 crowd.
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In truth, it's been a great week to be a Celtic supporter. What more could you ask for when your team progresses to the UEFA Cup last 16 on the Wednesday, watch the draw for the game on the Thursday, end your nearest rivals' season on the Sunday, and compete in Europe against Barcelona the following Thursday.
Celtic have hardly been hitting top form in recent games; we were defeated 1-0 against FK Teplice in the Czech Republic, and hardly produced a vintage performance in an easy 1-0 win over Rangers on Sunday.
But it won't take much to fire up The Bhoys for tomorrow night's game. As mentioned before, there will be a full house at Parkhead, and it promises to be one of the greatest European nights ever!
This time last year Celtic were competing against VfB Stuttgart, who were unlucky to go through to the Champions League Quarter Final last night. Tomorrow night sees us once again in the UEFA Cup last 16, but this season we have been less lucky with injuries
Chris Sutton has been ruled out of the game, and joins fellow strikers John Hartson and Shaun Maloney in the treatment room. Sutton's absence will be a massive loss, and Celtic cannot afford to make the same mistake as we did on Sunday, where long, high balls were played up-front, as if Sutton was there! Craig Beattie may start the game, and as we know, is full of energy and enthusiasm. I am confident the young striker can do a job for us.
Neil Lennon makes a welcome return to European football, after a two game suspension, and we will be hoping for a better performance from Alan Thompson, who was surprisingly poor on Sunday.
Barcelona need no introduction; they are riding high in the Spanish league and have a trophy room filled with silverware. Their biggest assests will be Patrick Kluivert and Ronaldinho up-front, but from what I have seen, aren't too big and physical. This could work in our advantage. We need to create chances from set pieces - decent deliveries are needed from corner kicks, unlike Stan Petrov's laughable attempt in Teplice last week!
Some say we are boosted by the fact Edgar Davids is cup-tied but I believe he is over-rated and no more than an average midfielder.
Tomorrow's game is going to be a fantastic event for all associated with Celtic. For some, this is what dreams are made of. Martin O'Neill has claimed he will take a 0-0 tomorrow night, with the possibility that we can score in Nou Camp in two weeks. I'll second that Martin.
Celtic-Mad Prediction: Celtic 1-0 FC Barcelona