2011-08-25: FC Sion 3-1 Celtic, UEFA Cup

Trivia

• UEFA Cup/Europa Cup 2nd Leg Qualifying Round.
• Celtic out 1-3 agg score; 0-0 first leg.
• Out of Europe and it's not even the end of August!!!!!
• Danny M sent off for a daft tackle in the first minute!!!!!
• All Scottish teams out tonight; Celtic, Rangers & Hearts
• Hopes that Sion broke rules on embargos on players eligible to play; clutching at legal straws.
• DECISION REVERSED: Celtic awarded 3-0 victory as FC Sion fielded ineligible players! Celtic progress to group stages of the Europa League! (see below)

Review

(from KDS forum)
We are not a great side (obviously) but too many of our players think they are better than they actually are. They do not work hard enough off the ball either to get it back or make space to take a forward pass. I would love to know the stats for how much ground our players cover compared to top players in the EPL or Spain.

We swan about in possession against lesser SPL teams who are quite happy to sit back and invite us on. The effect is we get loads of possession in most domestic games without needing to work hard to find space. The egos then seem to inflate that they can dominate games without putting a shift in.

Put us in against a semi-decent side or a euro tie and the laziness of this squad (Izzy being the exception) is there to see. The workrate of the current squad, their physique, levels of fitness and attitude as top professionals is way short of what is required for any Celtic team with Euro ambitions, perhaps even domestic ones.

This is not a Lennon problem, this is a Celtic Football Club problem. Why did it take Collins going to Monaco for him to develop such a strong upper body physique? Aiden is now a bear compared to when he left us. We approach European football with the target of some extra £s, we have no plan in place to make a mark in Europe.

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• Voting Thread
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• Winner – Mulgrew, C
• 2011-12 Winners

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Daily Mail
FC Sion 3 Celtic 1 (agg 3-1): Majstorovic sees red as Hoops are gone in 60 seconds

By Sportsmail Reporter

Last updated at 10:04 PM on 25th August 2011

Daniel Majstorovic saw red as 10-man Celtic crashed out of the Europa League with a depressing play-off second-leg defeat against Swiss side Sion at the Stade de Tourbillon.

The tie was in the balance after a goalless first leg in Glasgow last week but that changed inside a minute when the Hoops defender brought down Guilherme Afonso inside the box.
Hammer blow: Sion's midfielder Pascal Feindouno scores from penalty spot

Hammer blow: Sion's midfielder Pascal Feindouno scores from penalty spot

After Majstorovic had walked, Pascal Feindouno scored from the spot and from then on Celtic were fighting an uphill battle they never looked like winning.

Feindouno added a second after the break with Celtic defender Charlie Mulgrew and Giovanni Sio swapping goals late in the game as the home side ran out 3-1 aggregate winners.

Celtic have now won only one out of their last 30 games away from home in Europe and did not give themselves much of a chance in this one, but nevertheless the spotlight will swing onto Neil Lennon who admitted his credibility was on the line ahead of this game.

In his first European foray as permanent boss last season the Irishman's side lost to Braga and FC Utrecht in their respective Champions League and Europa League qualifiers but no doubt he will point the finger at Majstorovic for his contribution.

Lennon's team selection had been bold.

Beram Kayal, Kelvin Wilson and Gary Hooper all returned after recovering from injury while Cha Du-ri came in for Adam Matthews at right-back and striker Georgios Samaras replaced top scorer Anthony Stokes, which raised a few eyebrows.

The Irishman dropped to the bench along with dropped Kris Commons with Shaun Maloney and Victor Wanyama left out altogether. But it was a horror start for Celtic as they found themselves a goal down and a man down within three minutes.

There was less than a minute played when Majstorovic was caught out of position from what looked like a straightforward long ball from Geoffrey Serey Die and felled Afonso inside the box as he raced in on goal.

After referee David Fernandez Borbalan showed the Hoops defender the red card, playmaker Feindouno, who had previously been on trial at Parkhead, dispatched the ball past Fraser Forster with some confidence.

In the reshuffle, Mulgrew moved in to the centre of defence with Joe Ledley going to left-back and Samaras dropping deeper as the injured Afonso had to be replaced by Aleksander Prijovic.

It was an uphill task for the visitors thereafter. Mulgrew put a good block in on substitute Prijovic as the Hoops defence was exposed again with a long ball.

In the 27th minute Forster had to dive low to his left to beat out a Feindouno free-kick after Kayal was penalised for hand ball 25 yards out.

The game took a bit of a breather but Cha had to put in a crucial saving block on Feindouno after the Sion player had brilliantly made a yard of space for himself in the Celtic box.

Sion broke with pace again in the 38th minute following a Hoops corner with Kayal lying on the ground following a challenge by Prijovic in the middle of the park.

The Sion substitute ran free on to a Feindouno pass but he never looked confident and his low drive skipped past Forster's left-hand post.

Two minutes from the break, after Sion defender Michael Dingsdag was booked for a foul on Samaras 25 yards out, Mulgrew's curling free-kick was heading inside the post before it was palmed away to safety by Andris Vanins.

It was not an encouraging start to the second half for the Parkhead men.

In the 51st minute their defence was cut open all too easily again when Sio played in Prijovic but Forster got a touch to his drive from 12 yards and ball fortuitously came back off the post.

Moments later, as Sion moved effortlessly into the Parkhead box once more, Forster had to make a save at the feet of Sio who, in truth, dallied too long on the ball.

All the while the Hoops knew just one goal would win them the tie but that looked unlikely in the 63rd minute after Ki Sung-yueng had fouled Sio 30 yards from goal.

Feindouno looked as if he made a mess of it when his initial effort was blocked but he was allowed another go and with the Celtic defence static he drove the ball low past Forster who stood and watched the ball nestle in the corner of the net.

It was all but over for Celtic. In the 69th minute Hooper had the ball in the net from a Ki cross but was ruled offside.

Mulgrew gave Celtic some hope when he drilled in a free-kick in the 77th minute after Hooper had won a foul 20 yards out.

But in the 83rd minute, with Celtic pushing for the equaliser, Sio raced away from Ki over the halfway line and cheekily dinked the ball over Forster to seal the Swiss side's place in the group stages.

Celtic (agg 3 – 1) FC Sion

BBC
last updated at 20:35 GMT, Thursday, 25 August 2011 21:35 UK

Unsettled by their start to the match, Celtic struggled to get a foothold in the face of a buoyant Sion.
Mario Mutsch and substitute Aleksander Prijovic both had early chances, then Celtic survived wave after wave of attack instigated by Feinduono – one of five players listed by Sion that Fifa judged ineligible to play for the club due to a transfer embargo, with the Swiss outfit warned they could face sanctions from Uefa.
In the 27th minute Forster had to dive low to his left to beat out a Feindouno free-kick after Kayal was penalised for handball 25 yards out.
Minutes later Cha had to put in a crucial saving block on Feindouno after the striker had brilliantly made a yard of space for himself in the Celtic box.
After the restart it was midfielder Sio who took on the role of Celtic's tormentor; the Frenchman creating a barrage of chances and involved in the second goal; Ki Sung-yueng judged to have fouled him 30 yards from goal to hand Sion a dangerously positioned free kick.
Feindouno's initial effort was blocked, but he was allowed another by a static Celtic defence, with Forster helplessly watching the ball nestle in the corner of the net.
There was a glimmer of hope for Celtic in the 78th minute, when Mulgrew converted a free kick from 20 yards out to put Lennon's side once against within a single goal of securing their progression to the group stages.
But a mistake by Ki on the half-way line eight minutes from time gave Sion the killer blow they needed.
The Korean was dispossessed under little pressure from the mercurial Sio, who picked up the ball and ran all the way to the box before chipping Forster to slot home and end Celtic's run in Europe at the play-off stage for a second year running.