From what I have seen, I would say Barca are the best side in Europe at the moment. But for some stages tonight, we had them rattled. It was certainly a game of two halves and what a difference a Sutton makes.
The game kicked off 30 minutes late due to a pile-up outside the North Stand Lower entrance to the ground. Apparently, Celtic have been having problems with newly installed turnstiles, but this problem was apparent on Saturday. Three days should surely be enough for a club the size of Celtic to fix a turnstile problem.
The delay in kick off gave the Celtic Park DJ yet another chance to embarrass our club once again. His choice of music is a complete joke and the guy must be sacked. Three songs were interrupted for needless police announcements and safety messages. Talk about killing an atmosphere?
The crowd rose again when the teams emerged. Celtic made only one change from Saturday, Didier Agathe returning to the starting side. Chris Sutton could only make a place on the bench. Henrik Larsson was a Barcelona substitute, and looking at the Catalonian's forward line, it was easy to see why.
Barcelona started proceedings, after a cheeky pre-match huddle. Their quality was there for all to see from the first whistle. They are quick, pacey and know one another like the back of their own hands. You could say they were a joy to watch, but to be honest, it was more frightening than enjoyable.
We needed strong match officials tonight, to cope with the inevitable Barcelona diving. We weren't given them. Instead, we had a referee and two assistants who had obviously been picked up in a flat in Las Ramblas. From the beginning, they showed themselves up as incompetent and inconsistent. John Hartson was booked very early on for his routinely stupid challenge. The referee though, appeared to miss many more hefty challenges throughout the game.
Former Rangers player Giovanni Van Bronhkhurst had a shot saved by David Marshall in the Celtic goal, after a great move. Celtic didn't really mount an attack at goal in thw first half, and it wasn't long before Barca took the lead.
Celtic looked comfortable in possession, when Didier Agathe commited the biggest crime in football - giving the ball away. In truth, Celtic were doing it all night and it was only a matter of time before it got punished. Agathe's slackness resulted in Deco racing forward, linking up with Ronaldinho and blasting the ball home across goal from a tight angle, with only 19 minutes gone. Jackie McNamara was guilty of ball-watching and was too slow getting back.
Celtic Park was silenced but the crowd tried to fire the team up for a retaliation. The closest we came before half time was when Juninho found himself latching onto a Henri Camara through ball. However, a foul was given against the Wee Man for a nothing offence, and he picked up a yellow card for stupidly shouting at the linesman.
Barcelona midfielder Guily was running the show, and almost scored himself, when he rounded David Marshall. Bobo Balde prevented a goal with a goal-line clearance.
Chris Sutton replaced the non-existent Juninho at half time.
Celtic looked a different side in the second period, and went at Barca from the start. We were playing some nice stuff and desrved a goal. However, we were almost caught out with another one-touch move from Barcelona, and Guily broke through. Poised to shoot with only the goalkeeper to beat, Jackie McNamara slid in from behind and conceded a penalty. The Celtic captain was lucky not to be sent off, only receiving a yellow card.
David Marshall obviously has a dislike for all things Barcelona, and made a remarkable save from Ronaldinho's penalty. The best I have seen in a long time. Marshall made another great save from the resulting corner, and at this point had kept Celtic in the game.
Celts were clearly given a boost from the penalty save, and minutes later, equalised through Chris Sutton. A neat move involving Didier Agathe saw Henri Camara crossing the ball to the far post, where Sutton hade made up yards to stretch out. The ball ended up in the roof of the net, and the roof of the stands nearly blew off with the noise level. Celtic Park was bouncing.
We had Barcelona then. The looked vulnerable and would have gladly taken a draw as a final score. Stan Petrov forced a save from the Barca 'keeper with a neat volley and Alan Thompson almost forced an own goal out of defender Belletti.
Martin O'Neill then swapped John Hartson for Joos Valgaeren in a somewhat negative looking move. At the same time, Henrik Larsson made his way onto the pitch after being swapped for Ronaldinho. There were no cheers, nor boos, as Larsson entered the field of play, as the Celtic support were in full voice at this time.
Larsson seemed to be getting a hard time off of Celtic defender Bobo Balde, and the Swede was looking frustrated. The Celtic fans jokingly sang "Bobo's gonnae get you," which prompted a smile from the former Celtic legend.
It wasn't long though, before Larsson got himself involved in the action. A neat one two with Belletti saw the latter cut the ball back to Guily, whose shot from outdie the area, was deflected past David Marshall on 77 minutes. Marshall was poised to make an easy save before the unfortunate deflection. And things got worse. McNamara was stretchered off as he appeared to catch his studs in the turf. Rumours of a broken leg are circulating but Martin O'Neill has claimed the result of an X-ray will not be known until tomorrow. We wait with anticipation.
This time, the goal did silence the home crowd, and it wasn't long before some were heading for the exits. A very slack and stupid header towards his own goal by Alan Thompson was pounced upon by Larsson, who clipped the ball over the goalkeeper and tapped into the net. What was Thompson thinking about? He was 25 yards from goal and could have headed it anywhere.
Larsson made no mistake in latching onto Thommo's mistake, quite rightly. Fair enough, we have moved on and try to forget him, but anyone who booed him should take a real look at themselves tonight. Fair enough, it may have been frustration but we wouldn't even be in the Champions League if it wasn't for Larsson, and the fact he never celebrated the goal to excess shows he still respects us. Such a shame we all didn't respect him.
The writing was always on the wall, Larsson was always going to score. And there was me hoping he'd have an off night!
Celtic had a spirited attempt at a comeback, Momo Sylla saw his goal chopped off for offside in injury time. But the best team won. Barca could have been 4-0 up at half time and despite scoring against the run of play, they deserved the victory.
Individual mistakes have been the story of our Champions League life, and tonight was no different. It is our first home defeat in the tournament, and if we continue to make silly blunders against class opposition, it won't be our last. We have to pick ourselves up and hopefully this time, learn from our mistakes.
Next stop Milan!
Celtic:
Marshall - 9
McNamara - 6 (Sylla - 5)
Balde - 7
Varga - 5
Lennon - 6
Agathe - 6
Petrov - 7
Thompson - 7
Camara - 8
Juninho - 5 (Sutton) - 9
Hartson - 6 (Valgaeren) - 5
Come On The Hoops Man Of The Match: David Marshall
Come On The Hoops Moment To Remember: The joy at Chris Sutton's goal.
Come On The Hoops Moment To Forget: Idiots who leave the game with 10 minutes to go, then argue that it is their right to leave whenever they wish. Well it is also their right not to turn up at all; please take this option next time.