Glasgow: Oh, what a night. And a night that Pep Guardiola, who spoke before the 3-3 draw at Celtic Park about how the match would show him the level Manchester City were at away from home in Champions League competition, will indeed learn from.
In Brendan Rodgers, Celtic have a manager who preaches the same school of thought as Guardiola when it comes to an intensive, high-pressing style of football. Can’t keep up, and you won’t get a game.
It is surprising however that it was Celtic, annihilated 7-0 by Barcelona in their opening Champions League Group C fixture, who became the first side to stop Pep’s City winning, denying the manager his 11th straight victory.
Only Manchester United in their second-half performance — and they were losing at Old Trafford as well — have pressed City anywhere near what Celtic did on Wednesday night.
Celtic were led from the front by the marvellous Moussa Dembele, a 20-year-old tipped to be a future France international star by no-less than his esteemed countryman Zinedine Zidane — and who showed he very much could be with a performance that Rodgers hailed as one that “bullied” City’s defence.
Conceding avoidable goals to Dembele mere minutes into each half will perturb Guardiola though. The opener saw City go to sleep for James Forrest’s late run that allowed Dembele, actually slightly offside, to bundle home, while the striker’s second came as a result of woefully awkward defending from Aleksandar Kolarov. Comfortable on the ball in the centre he may be, but there are still huge question marks about the Serbian’s ability to actually defend in the role.
If City defend like that in the Nou Camp versus Barcelona — still the masters of pressing, and still very much the masters of scintillating, attacking football — later this month, then Pep will have a lot to worry about.
In the modern game, there’s a time to press and a time to sit.
And when you’re the defensive midfielder in a 4-1-4-1, like Fernandinho, there’s mostly a time to sit. His decision to rush in and go to ground led to Celtic’s second, unluckily deflected into his own net by Raheem Sterling, but it was one of a few times when the Brazilian dived in and failed to come away with the ball. Simple football intelligence — especially in the modern game and the pace of which it is played at — dictates you simply have to win the football if you do decide to go to ground.
Credit to City — and it seems astonishing to say this — but every time Celtic went ahead, Guardiola’s side pegged them back exactly eight minutes later. There may have been slight fortune to Fernandinho’s scuffed leveller but Sterling’s finish for the second was exquisitely composed, despite Celtic’s cheap concession of the ball to David Silva to provide the Englishman with the opportunity. The development of the talented 21-year-old winger under Guardiola just grows on a game-by-game basis. Perhaps to be expected there were more chances for City to win it than the hosts after Nolito tucked away for 3-3 but interestingly Guardiola declared himself “satisfied” with a point, commenting how tough Celtic are at home, especially with the constant, fervent backing of nearly 60,000 fans.
Is there a better atmosphere in Champions League football than Celtic Park?
The club’s record at fortress Parkhead is remarkable — just three losses in 22 Champions League group matches. And two of them were to Barcelona, the other AC Milan. In their 15 victories, all of Juventus, Manchester United and Barcelona themselves have been put to the sword at Celtic Park.
Fortunate for Celtic then that while City travel to the Nou Camp on October 19, the Bhoys will attempt to teach Borussia Moenchengladbach a Celtic Park lesson.
