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Trivia
- International Champions Cup, 2nd match
- Match being played in Dublin, Ireland, in Aviva Stadium. Jumped up summer tournament friendly competition, all for marketing nonsense. Fun day in the sun for all in the Green in Dublin.
- 60€ a ticket for any game is ridiculous, let alone a friendly. Still, 47,000 is a great crowd considering.
- Talking point again another clanger from Ambrose. Expected now he won’t start on Wednesday coming in vital game v Astana? But injuries say differently.
- Ambrose booed by sections of the Celtic support at the ground frustrated after his latest calamity and continual pick in the side, not personal, and the booing was likely unnecessary but there is deep frustration at his continual errors. There’s just so often you can put it down to poor luck alone, although today is genuinely more one of those poor luck moments.
- Bitton looks out injured after bad ankley injury.
- Messi: “For Celtic they have much more important games than this coming up with the Champions League qualifiers, but this can help them prepare. We have had some games against Celtic that I will always remember, and they are a big club, with big fans, and I would like to see them qualify this year – it is where they belong. It is always a good atmosphere against Celtic. For the players at Barcelona who experienced the games in Europe against them, they will know what to expect from their fans. It is only a friendly, but I don’t think their fans know what a friendly is. There are a lot of Celtic fans in Ireland, and I expect them to make a lot of noise and create another special atmosphere.”
Review![[Untitled]](https://wikifoundryimages.s3.amazonaws.com/a4f59948859bacb61b5146048e248deb "[Untitled]")
(Kbhoy of KDS)
Just back from the match. It was my first time at the Aviva and i have to say it is a class stadium . Pricing however is still scandalous. I ended up getting a ticket that at face value was 60 Euro . My seat was up in a corner in the top tier , quite faraway from some of the action . 2nd half got spoiled on me slightly due too people having to squeeze past my seat as they had to go out for 6 smokes in the space of 45 mins and my row seeming to be the secondary walkway.
The actual game itself was enjoyable , Roberts as usual was outstanding he had Barca’s defence backing off him. Efe Ambrose was the main source of entertainment for a lot of the game, he went from looking like Lucio to looking like Efe Ambrose . Seen a bit more from Dembele he played some nice football with Rogic , Still seems too lose the ball a lot though . Rogic as usual just glided about , passing , shooting and running with the ball at defenders. Ciftci impressed me , he had their right back for pace on a few occasions after skinning him , he also held the ball up well and won free kicks and showed a bit more understanding with his teammates.
(SLF of KDS)
At times we pressed high up the pitch–it was/will be effective if we do that more For a friendly, it was quite interesting to see our players pitched against some of the best in the world.Some of them performed fairly well,some not. Most notably of those who were in the “not”camp,McGregor looked completely out of his depth. I hope we don’t persist with him as imo he is just not good enough. Rogic looked really good when he came on–if he could do that for 90 mins he would be some player.
Teams
Celtic:
Gordon, Janko, Ambrose, O’Connell, Izaguirre, Brown, Bitton, McGregor, Roberts, Griffiths, Forrest.
Subs: Fasan (Gordon 45), Fisher (Izaguirre 77), Ciftci (Roberts 45), Dembele (Griffiths 45), Armstrong (McGregor 45), Christie (Forrest 63), Rogic (Bitton 45), Allan (Brown 45), Ajer (O’Connell 45), McCart (Ambrose 63), Ralston (Janko 63).
Goal: Griffiths 29
Barcelona:
Masip, Vidal, Camara, Mathieu, Roberto, Martinez, Denis Suarez, Arda Turan, Luis Suarez, Munir, Messi.
Subs: J.Suárez, J.Martínez, Borja, Gumbau, Samper (Messi 45), Aleñá (Denis Suarez 61), Tello, Carbonell, Marlon (Mathieu 61), Mujica, Nili, Alfaro (Suarez 61).
Goals: Turan 11, Ambrose 31, Munir 40
Stadium: Aviva Stadium, Dublin (Ireland)
Referee:
Attendance: 47,000 [would have been full if not for stupid ticket prices, €60 for a friendly!]
Articles
- Match Report (see end of page below)
Pictures
Forum
Articles
International Champions Cup: Celtic 1-3 Barcelona
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36934265
By Andy Burke
BBC Scotland
From the section Football
Luis Suarez, Brendan Rodgers
Barcelona striker Luis Suarez embraces Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers, whom he played under at Liverpool
Celtic were beaten but not disgraced as they warmed up for their crucial Champions League match against Astana with a loss to Barcelona in Dublin.
Barca took the lead in splendid style, Arda Turan placing a marvellous finish beyond Craig Gordon after 10 minutes.
A defensive blunder from Jose Antonio Martinez gifted Leigh Griffiths a leveller, but Efe Ambrose diverted a cross into his own net a minute later.
Munir Mohamed made it 3-1 to secure a comfortable win for Barca.
There was no suggestion of Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers fielding a weakened side ahead of the crucial Champions League third-round, second-leg qualifier on Wednesday.
Seven of the team who secured a 1-1 draw in the away leg against Astana in midweek started in Dublin. New signing Kolo Toure was not deemed ready for match action.
Barca were without the likes of Gerard Pique, Andres Iniesta and Neymar for their first pre-season match, but Luis Enrique did include the towering talents of Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez.
James Forrest was on the bench for the match in Kazakhstan and may wish he had been on the sidelines at the Aviva Stadium after being embarrassed in the build-up to Barcelona’s opening goal.
He was nutmegged and left for dead wide on the right by Aleix Vidal, who rolled the ball across the edge of the box for Turan to curl a sumptuous finish into the top corner.
Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi, sporting a new bleached blond hair style, played 45 minutes against Celtic in Dublin
The Scottish champions were gifted an equaliser just before the half-hour mark, with Leigh Griffiths able to fire home from close range after Jose Antonio Martinez’s errant touch near his own goal presented the striker with a tap-in.
Barca regained the lead just a minute later, Ambrose turning Juan Camara’s cross into his own net, before Suarez teed up Mohamed to make it 3-1 at the break.
With that Champions League qualifier looming, Celtic made seven changes at the break. And with the second half punctuated by further substitutions on both sides, the match became subdued, with very few chances on created on either side.
Barca left with the spoils, but Rodgers will feel it was a very useful outing for his men as they gear up for a vital 90 minutes at Celtic Park against Astana on Wednesday night.
Bitton injury concerns Rodgers
The Celtic manager was left concerned by an injury picked up by midfielder Nir Bitton, placing his participation against Astana in doubt.
“Disappointment we may have lost Nir Bitton so we’ll see how he goes,” Rodgers told Sky Sports.
“Looks like he’s twisted his ankle which prevented him from being able to move so well in the first half. But other than that all the players have come through it well.
“Great experience for them and we’ll be getting ready now for Wednesday.”
Celtic 1 – 3 Barcelona: World-class Barca just too good
http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/celtic-1-3-barcelona-world-class-barca-just-too-good-1-4190427Ciarán Ó Raghallaigh
The half-time statistics, more than the full-time score, may be what Brendan Rodgers takes home from this International Champions Cup encounter in Dublin.
Despite being 3-2 ahead in the shots-on-target column, Celtic were 3-1 down in the goals column.
Go figure.
It’s the kind of statistic that make many football fans shrug, but one that will make Rodgers shiver.
This will probably not turn out to be his first-choice back four as the season progresses, with Saidy Janko and Emilio Izaguirre the full backs and Efe Ambrose and Eoghan O’Connell in the centre, but it may be what he sends on to the field against Astana in Wednesday night’s Champions League second-leg tie.
Of course, the Kazakhs won’t have Lionel Messi or Luis Suarez to call upon, but when it comes to defensive howlers Efe Ambrose and Craig Gordon are equal-opportunity offenders.
There were some good touches in the first 45 minutes, with Patrick Roberts showing the value of all those hours spent watching Messi clips on YouTube, while Leigh Griffiths did what Leigh Griffiths does best; score.
The ten changes that arrived around the hour mark made it hard to assess things further, but Rodgers will have seen enough to set up a new WhatsApp group for transfer demands with Peter Lawwell and Dermot Desmond.
Although this was Barcelona’s first pre-season game, they provided precisely the test you’d expect from any Barcelona team.
They landed in Dublin airport with little excess world-class baggage; the likes of Andres Iniesta, Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets, Javier Mascherano, Claudio Bravo and Jordi Alba not training until tomorrow, while Neymar is preparing for the Olympics in Brazil.
Still, there was more than a sprinkling of quality here with Messi, Suarez and Arda Turan bringing enough star power to help fill more than 47,000 seats.
Rodgers made four changes to the side that drew 1-1 with Astana last week, with Janko, Izaguirre, Nir Bitton and James Forrest starting.
The second leg in Celtic Park is more valuable than any friendly encounter, but Rodgers’ may have gleamed some priceless lessons from this 90 minutes.
O’Connell and Ambrose started again in the centre of defence, and simply put – the Celtic manager cannot rely on the Nigerian, who scored a first-half own-goal and was nutmegged for Barcelona’s third ten minutes later.
Craig Gordon, once more, failed to dominate his area, and one wonders what communication there is between the pair. It’s a serious area of concern for Rodgers, who had to travel to Dublin without Kolo Toure, Erik Sviatchenko, Mikael Lustig, Jozo Simunovic and Dedryk Boyata.
Things had looked good for Celtic, for the opening few minutes.
They pushed up from kick-off and almost opened the scoring after just 13 seconds, when Patrick Roberts capitalised on a Jeremy Mathieu slip, cut inside – Messi-style – only to send his curling effort inches wide of Jordi Masip’s goal.
The 20-year-old, on loan from Manchester City, repeated the effort on seven minutes, eager to catch the eyes of his blonde idol in opposition colours.
Celtic had the bulk of the early chances, but when the opening goal came it was from the Catalans.
Vidal chased a ball lofted over the flat Celtic backline, nutmegged Forrest, and cut back for Turan who, under little pressure, fired home powerfully from the edge of the box.
Roberts continued to get the fans on their feet, delivering some of the slalom runs many would have come to see Messi perform, but when Celtic scored the assist came from a Barcelona defender.
An horrendous first touch by Jose Martinez – who doesn’t merit a place on Barcelona’s wikipedia squad list and showed why – inside his penalty area handed Griffiths a tap in from five yards out.
But Celtic’s defence weren’t about to be outdone, and Ambrose and Gordon conspired to concede a howler, with the centre half stretching to intercept a harmless cross, before sending it beyond his haplessgoalkeeper.
Barcelona added a third before the break as Celtic’s defence collapsed again, with Suarez nipping in behind easily, nutmegging Ambrose, before squaring to Munir who was all alone to tap home.
Both sides swapped their entire starting eleven as the second half passed, with Kristoffer Ajer getting more game time in central defence for Celtic, but half chances from Luis Suarez, Nadir Ciftci and Moussa Dembele aside, there was little to email home about.