Game one, travelling to Spain to take on Atletico Madrid in the 54,000 capacity Vicente Calderon. This is what European football is all about. These are the games the fans want to see and the players want to play in. Atletico are a big time club in a big time league.
They have been to the European Cup Final, won 9 La Liga titles and won the Europa League only two years ago. They also forked out 55 million in transfer fees this summer. The question is, can we get a result?
Short answer is no. Atletico Madrid are coming off a bad season. Last year they finished 7th in La Liga, and were beaten in the quarter finals in the Copa Del Rey. In Europe they did not Qualify out of this stage of the Europa League finishing third behind Bayer Leverkusen and Aris from Greece.
These results cost manager Quique Sánchez Flores his job one year after winning the Europa League. His replacement is Gregorio Manzano who has managed 11 teams since 1996 with his biggest claim being the 2003 Copa Del Rey. Manzano has not done too much wrong, his teams always do better than expected and he has only had one team relegated. I would compare him to Sam Allardyce or Roy Hodgson, in that with him at the helm you will have a steady team that will be hard to beat.
‘Los Colchoneros’ playing staff has gone through an upheaval as well. Only three players from the 2010 Europa League winning side are still at the club. This summer alone they lost Sergio Aguero, Diego Forlan and David De Gea. You can’t really replace that kind of talent, but there is no harm in trying.
As previously stated Atletico splashed 55 million and huge chunk of that went on Radamel Falcao. Falcao is class, pure and simple. He is strong in the air, pacey, good at reading the game and will not stray too far from the box, which is what you want from an out and out striker. He seems to be a more instinctive striker, most of his goals are first time shots.
Falcao reminds me of Henrik Larrson, not the biggest striker but has great jumping ability and he sticks his head where it hurts which makes him extremely dangerous from crosses and set pieces. Our only hope is that when we play it will only have been his second game for Madrid and he might not have settled yet.
Falcao ended up scoring 41 in 51 games for Porto while breaking the Europa League goal scoring record. Not a bad replacement. They also signed fullback Silvio from SC Braga who also made it to the Europa League final last year and Brazilian playmaker Diego on loan from Wolfsburg who played in the 2009 final. So their players have pedigree in this tournament.
In losing De Gea, they lost one of Europe’s top young keepers, but managed to replace him with another potential superstar, Thibaut Courtois. Courtois is a 6ft 6, 19 year old who starred for Genk last year helping them win the Belgian League. This prompted an £8m bid by Chelsea who then loaned him to Atletico. Their main danger is someone who has been at the club for a while, Jose Antonio Reyes.
There is no point in having a superstar striker unless someone can create for him and that job will fall to Reyes. He will cause a lot of trouble for whoever is deployed as right back on the night. Reyes has been around for a while and can count Real Madrid and Arsenal as previous clubs, so he has played at the very top and been successful.
He is a winger that has an eye for goal, he has as comfortable cutting inside and shooting as he is going outside the fullback looking for the cross. Reyes will see a lot of the ball.
In summary, Atletico Madrid will probably start six players that have appeared in the last three Europa League finals. They might not be one of the elite clubs, but they are easily one of the favourites to win this competition.
It is a good time to get the toughest game out of the way while they are settling into a new style with a new coach but with our away from and how we have fared in Europe in the last two years, it is difficult to remain optimistic.
We will have to defend and we are not very good at that. In the SPL our defence does not get much practice defending, but when they are called upon they look shaky. On paper, this game is an easy home victory. Anything other than that will be a huge shock.
Probably Team
————————————Courtois
Silvio—————-Perea——————Dominguez————-Felipe
Suarez————–Diego——————-Gabi———————Reyes
———————-Adrian—————–Falcao
Comparables
Atletico Madrid
First team cost: 75 Million
Avg. Per Starter: 6.8 Million
Avg Age: 25
Celtic
First team cost: 12.1 Million
Avg. Per Starter: 1.1 Million
Avg. Age: 24
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wow reading your piece am afraid we’re in for an absolute slaughtering which if happens then I fear for rest of season as will knock players confidence for six.
🙁
We will only improve by playing against this type of quality. Measure yourself against one of the best, and try to learn from the way they go about their business.
These games should inspire our players. Anything positive to come out of Thursday night should be used on Sunday at a venue where we have dominated our opponent recently.
Bring it on.
hope the game goes ahead – essential experience for our young team – let’s not be afraid – go there, attack, give it our best shot – and hope too that Neil uses his subs correctly this time at least, rather than bringing KC on with 5mins to go
massive underdogs but as far as i am aware, the current score is 0-0 – INTAE THEM !!
btw, excellent article, Paul – well done !!
totally agree with everyone this is a vital learning curve for everyone at Celtic the more we learn the better and we shouldn’t be afraid to have a go either
We have been given a valuable second chance so come on lets use it
HAIL HAIL LETS GET THE THUNDER BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111111111