| Match Pictures | Champions League | Matches: 2008 – 2009 | 2008-2009 Pictures |
Trivia
- Champions League
- Celtic already out the tournament, Villarreal already qualified for the group stages
- Our and only win this champs lge season.
- Unbeaten at home in all 3 games, beaten in all 3 games away!!!!
Review
As Celtic effectively out of Europe, and Villarreal qualified for the group stages, match was unfairly tagged as a quasi-friendly game. Clubs & fans have a good relationship together, so a good atmosphere was expected. In truth, the stadium was generally subdued relatively for a champs lge game, however on the pitch the Celtic team excelled with two great goals to win by two nil. Villarreal on the other other imploded with some impetuous fouling at times, although there what could be taken as an overaly harsh sending off by the referee as well. The ref in any case, seem to lose it and gave away some daft yellow cards to both sides.
An enjoyable 90mins of football, and its a case of if only we'd played as well as this earlier and had more of the rub of the green.
Boruc was the cult hero with 90mins of singing for him by the fans, although he had little to do, bar one excellent one-on-one save.
Till next year now!
Teams
Celtic:-
Boruc, Hinkel, Caldwell, McManus, Wilson (O'Dea 81), Nakamura, Scott Brown, Hartley, McGeady (McGowan 75), Maloney, Samaras (McDonald 81).
Subs Not Used:- Mark Brown, Loovens, Mizuno, Caddis.
Booked:- Caldwell, McGowan.
Goals:- Maloney 14, McGeady 45.
Villarreal:-
Viera, Angel, Fuentes, Rodriguez, Bruno, Cani, Senna (Nihat 45), Edmilson, Fernandez, Franco, Ibagaza (Santi Cazorla 60).
Subs Not Used:- Diego Lopez, Eguren, Pires, Cygan.
Sent Off:- Franco 35.
Booked:- Edmilson, Senna, Angel, Ibagaza.
Att:- 58,104
Ref:- Claudio Circhetta (Switzerland).
Articles
Pictures
KStreet
Stats
| Celtic | Villarreal | |
| 2 | Goals scored | 0 |
| 6 | Shots on target | 3 |
| 4 | Shots wide | 6 |
| 1 | Shots blocked | 2 |
| 2 | Yellow card | 4 |
| 0 | Red card | 1 |
| 14 | Fouls committed | 12 |
| 4 | Corners | 4 |
| 6 | Offsides | 3 |
| 37' 44'' | Ball. Poss. (time) | 27' 12'' |
| 58% | Ball. Poss. (%) | 42% |
23:07 10Dec08 RTRS-UPDATE 2-Soccer-Villarreal lose to Celtic in dead rubber
(adds Strachan quotes)
By Kenny MacDonald
GLASGOW, Dec 10 (Reuters) – First-half goals from Shaun Maloney and Aiden McGeady handed Celtic their first win in nine Champions League matches when they beat 10-man Villarreal 2-0 in a Group E dead rubber on Wednesday.
Celtic's win was in vain, however, as Villarreal had already qualified for the first knockout round while Wednesday's result could not prevent the Scottish club from finishing their campaign bottom of the group with just five points.
Villarreal ended the group stage with nine points, one adrift of Manchester United.
Manager Manuel Pellegrini dismissed suggestions his Villarreal side were "too relaxed" for the encounter.
"We had three or four clear chances and the sending off and the (first) goal from the offside position really changed the game," Pellegrini told reporters.
"I don't feel we have lost anything because we have qualified (for the last 16)."
Maloney headed Celtic in front in the 14th minute after Uruguayan keeper Sebastian Viera let a cross from Mark Wilson slip through his fingers.
Villarreal's hopes of salvaging anything from the match evaporated in the 36th minute when Mexican forward Guille Franco was shown a red card for aiming a blow at Celtic defender Gary Caldwell in an off-the-ball incident.
McGeady cracked home a superb second in first-half stoppage time following a surging run from the halfway line. From the edge of the penalty area, he drilled a low shot beyond Viera and into the bottom right hand corner of the net.
Villarreal came close to pulling a goal back midway through the second half with Mati Fernandez stabbing the ball narrowly wide of the left post.
Nihat Kahveci also should have scored a couple of minutes later after he beat the offside trap but was denied brilliantly by Polish keeper Artur Boruc.
Celtic's Greek striker Georgios Samaras was thwarted at the other end as keeper Viera bravely dived at his feet to smother the ball 16 metres out.
"That game was … to make us feel better about ourselves," Celtic manager Gordon Strachan said after his side snapped Villarreal's six-match unbeaten run in the competition.
(Editing by Pritha Sarkar) Wednesday, 10 December 2008 23:07:23RTRS [nLA480202] {EN}ENDS
Strachan keen to keep team intact
BBC
Celtic boss Gordon Strachan is keen to retain his squad in order to make an impact in Europe next season.
Shaun Maloney and Aiden McGeady scored as Celtic beat Villarreal 2-0 in their final Champions League game.
But despite Wednesday's victory the Scottish champions had already been certain to finish bottom of Group E.
"If we stay together and don't have to sell anyone, that will be smashing. The longer we stay as a group the better it is for everybody," said Strachan.
Victory over the Spanish side was Celtic's first of the campaign and Strachan believes his team were unfortunate not to pick up more points from the group stage.
"We had a penalty at home against Aalborg and (if we score) we win the game and that's three points," he added.
"We did enough in Aalborg to win the game, everybody in this room whom I met has said we deserved to win.
"We had a smashing performance against Villarreal away and we were six minutes away from beating Manchester United here, although we obviously had our backs to the wall.
"If you look at that then you can count up a few points that went missing."
Goalkeeper Artur Boruc was selected in goal for Celtic despite an error in the weekend defeat at Hibernian.
And the Polish international made an important second-half save from Nihat Kahveci as Villarreal threatened to claw back their two-goal deficit.
"Artur did well," said Strachan. "I did my bit by picking him, that says everything."
Celtic 2-0 Villarreal
By Andy Campbell BBC
Celtic ended a disappointing Champions League campaign with a comfortable victory over 10-man Villarreal.
Shaun Maloney headed Celtic in front after 14 minutes before Villarreal's Guille Franco was sent off.
Aiden McGeady extended the home side's lead shortly before half-time with a left-foot strike.
Villarreal struggled to create chances after the break and had to settle for second place in Group E with Celtic finishing bottom.
The home side, who were looking for their first win of the tournament, started brightly with Sebastian Viera struggling to cope with Scott Brown's cross before being forced into a save by Maloney's shot.
At the other end, Franco tested keeper Artur Boruc with a fierce drive.
Andreas Hinkel then made an important tackle on Ariel Ibagaza who had found space on the edge of the Celtic box following a neat passing move.
The visitors looked dangerous on the counter attack and Mati Fernandez played a low cross towards Franco who shot wide under pressure from Gary Caldwell.
Celtic opened the scoring in the 14th minute when Viera failed to gather Mark Wilson's cross and Maloney nodded into an empty net.
Villarreal tried to hit back straight away and Hinkel and Stephen McManus needed to make crucial blocks in the six-yard box.
Edmilson should have hit the target with a free header from a corner in the 28th minute.
Swiss referee Claudio Circhetta consulted his assistant before showing Franco a red card in the 35th minute for violent conduct. The striker had been involved in an off-the-ball clash with Caldwell.
McGeady doubled Celtic's lead in first-half injury time.
The winger picked up the ball near the half-way line and progressed unchallenged towards the Villarreal box before firing home from the 18-yard line.
Celtic continued at a high tempo after the interval and Fabrico Fuentes cleared well as Samaras threatened to get on the end of Maloney's cross.
In a rare foray forward, Fernandez shot wide after evading two Celtic defenders.
Substitute Nihat Kahveci then beat the offside trap only to see his shot blocked by the advancing Boruc.
Shunsuke Nakamura, who worked tirelessly throughout, had a long-range effort saved comfortably by Viera and Brown also drew a save from the goalkeeper.
Caldwell had a good opportunity to head a third for Celtic late on but his effort from Paul Hartley's corner was blocked on the line by Viera.
The result means Villarreal missed the chance to win the group, with leaders Manchester United held to a draw by Aalborg, who had already secured third place.
Celtic: Boruc, Hinkel, Caldwell, McManus, Wilson (O'Dea 81), Nakamura, Scott Brown, Hartley, McGeady (McGowan 75), Maloney, Samaras (McDonald 81).
Subs Not Used: Mark Brown, Loovens, Mizuno, Caddis.
Booked: Caldwell, McGowan.
Goals: Maloney 14, McGeady 45.
Villarreal: Viera, Angel, Fuentes, Rodriguez, Bruno, Cani, Senna (Nihat 45), Edmilson, Fernandez, Franco, Ibagaza (Santi Cazorla 60).
Subs Not Used: Diego Lopez, Eguren, Pires, Cygan.
Sent Off: Franco (35). Booked: Edmilson, Senna, Angel, Ibagaza.
Att: 58,104
Ref: Claudio Circhetta (Switzerland)
BBC Sport Player Rater man of the match: Celtic's Shaun Maloney 7.84 (on 90 minutes).
Please note that you can still give the players marks out of 10 on BBC Sport's Player Rater after the match has finished.