Further to that the fact that we had to play with a makeshift defence and midfield due to injury and you have a recipe for disaster. Celtic competed well for the first half hour, and could have stolen a goal had the Gary Caldwell's blistering volley went in or Aiden's cheeky stab shot not been saved but the truth of it was that we were having to expel all our energy in the first half to keep up with Man U and the bubble was about to burst.
The fact that United went two up from two offside goals was hard to take. You would be forgiven for believing that the standard of official in Europe's premier Club competition would suit the occasion. However both linesmen managed to get basic decisions wrong, the second one being the worst given that the Linesman's sole task is to look for straying attackers at free kicks and I am sure that UEFA will deal with them accordingly.
Celtic were suicidal at times and the amount of players queuing up to put pressure on their team-mates with crazy one touch passing in their own penalty area must have had Gordon Strachan irate. The truth of the matter was that many players will have to take a right good look at their performances last night. Many just didn't perform, were anonymous or never gave their team mates the support they deserved. Many will have had an ego check after that game.
One player whose performance I cannot praise highly enough was Gary Caldwell. His all round dedication to helping out his team-mates was only eclipsed by the quality of his passing throughout the match. I can only remember one occasion in the second half when the intended recipient for the ball did not receive a clean crisp pass to feet. His long passing was also a joy to behold and it was the one positive from an otherwise depressing evening.
At least Aalborg didn't get a result.
Yours in Celtic
Clydebuilt