Last night was all about getting a result and that is precisely what Celtic managed to do. The nonchalant cries of "get a second to ensure dominance in the head to head" were not symptomatic of a first half performance that saw Celtic fail to settle in the first twenty minutes. We could easily have been blown away by a team with more endeavours than Benfica displayed last night.
The Portuguese team was not without their own frustrating spells however as slick passing moves fell down either from over exuberance or just fell down. The annoying thing from a Celtic perspective however was that every time Benfica got behind us it wasn't through some magical piece of genius and skill, it was simple pass and move triangles all over the pitch.
Both teams had chances in the first half, with the best of them falling to the Portuguese only for Artur Boruc to do what he does best. Celtic really should move heaven and earth to keep a player who is the best goalkeeper Celtic have had in a lifetime. A goalkeeper who can consistently prevent the opposition from scoring on one on one situations is worth his weight in gold and is the type of player that defences are built on.
Celtic had their chances also, with the pick of them falling to John Kennedy. The excellent Paul Hartley swung in a great driven cross (as opposed to the lobbed dinked crosses we have 'enjoyed' since his arrival). The young Centre Back knows that he really should have gotten better contact with the cross and put the ball across the Goalkeeper. The chance was missed.
Scott McDonald continued in the rich vein of form in what must have been a frustrating night for the free scoring Aussie. Bereft of any of the service or knockdowns that he thrives on McDonald was forced to try his luck from distance and was unlucky to see both attempts palmed away. The fact that the Benfica 'keeper failed to hold either shot was not capitalised on by Celtic or the opportunities were lost. At least one player noted that this goalie struggled with shots from the edge of the box and made him pay.
Aiden McGeady took up possession on the left-hand side of the midfield and cut inside Binya (more on him later) and rattled a viciously swerving shot that took a deflection before striking the keeper's knee on the way into the net.
And Parkhead responds as only Parkhead can.
Into the second half and Celtic started this period in the same way that they started the first and bad decision making and poor passing was the order of the day with Stephen McManus attempting to give the very quiet Cardozo the same gift as Alan Thompson gave to Henke in 2004.
Celtic then settled and an end to end game then ensued, with both teams enjoying a fair bit of pressure and pinning back their opponents but Celtic were starting to show that they were the more sprightly and enjoyed the openness of the midfield more than there counterparts.
Benfica were becoming more and more leggy at this stage. Scott Brown managed to overrun a Gary Caldwell pass and did well to make himself favourite to retain possession until the Cameroonian player Binya decided that he wasn't going to allow Brown to break with the ball.
What ensued was one of the most sickening challenges I have ever had the misfortune to encounter, the only outcome of a challenge like that severe pain to the recipient and to that end I put it to Binya that this was a deliberate attempt to hurt another human being and should be dealt with as such.
The fact that Binya is on record as saying "I raised my right to my opponent but I did it without the intention to hurt him," Binya told the Portuguese press.
"I will have a look at the images on the TV, but I can assure you that I did not attempt to hurt him." Speaks volumes to me. When you "raise your right leg" (i.e. show your studs) What outcome did you expect you moron? And when you follow through with that motion by stamping through the player then you deserve to be pilloried not only by UEFA but also by your own Club.
This had the effect of nullifying the final few minutes of the game and Celtic ran down the clock to take the points.
So what about young Aiden then? A great performance from a very talented individual and I hope he can continue to progress in this manner. With the natural ability of a certain former player who I will not directly compare him to out of respect McGeady can go on to be one of the brightest lights in British if not European Football. Keep up the god work Aiden.
So this game is more about the result than the performance and the must-win aspect of last nights game must have contributed to the nervousness on display but performances like these are not good enough in Europe. The only thing that baffles me as much as Celtics poor away record in this competition is that we have only dropped 4 home points in this competition, especially with a two-man defence.
A special closing mention goes to outgoing Chairman Brian Quinn who oversaw the final game of his tenure. Thanks for all of your hard work Brian.
Ps. A special Hail Hail also goes to the Jungle Boys and the Green Brigade for the excellent banners that were on show last night. I especially enjoyed the Green Brigade's "Stop the Eagle" parody of the Dastardly and Mutley "stop the pidgeon" routine.
Yours in Celtic
Clydebuilt