To anyone with sense, Scottish giants Celtic are dead in the water as far as this season’s UEFA Champions League is concerned. The Old Firm side were defeated 3-2 by mighty FC Barcelona in the first leg of their last 16 tie at Parkhead a fortnight ago, and play the Catalans at the Camp Nou on Tuesday night.
However, Celtic manager Gordon Strachan is not ready to lose hope although he does hint that winning at the Camp Nou would be tough to say the least. He says:
You always want to win every game for your pride, it’s a big thing in football. We are angry that we lost the first leg although we understand that we played against a great side. We want to leave Barcelona players and fans with a good impression of us, that’s what we are going to try and do.Hopefully the Nou Camp does inspire the players. There is nothing wrong with a bit of fear sometimes – it can push you on to greater things. I hope that we have a fear to get the ball back when they have it and stop them playing and then when we get the ball back have no fear whatsoever, to hold on to the ball more and be braver when we have possession.Hopefully that might do us.
But somehow you cannot even imagine Celtic winning at the Camp Nou. Honestly, Barca are just too, too strong for them.