Samaras eyes history
Even the most fantatical or optimistic Celtic fan realises that the Champions League journey will come to a halt tonight in Turin- not many sides win by three goals in Italy.
Twelve months ago Celtic were watching the knock-out stages of the Champions League from afar as they eyed up possible opponents in two qualifying rounds.
When Samaras put Celtic 2-0 up away to Helsingborgs the dream started to become reality with a lifetime of memories created through a memorable campaign that sees the hoops still involved in Europe’s premier tournament after the Manchester minnows have departed.
Samaras is likely to start tonight’s match as a support striker to Gary Hooper and is realistic about tonight’s targets.
“If we can’t win 4-0 or 5-0, then we want to win the game,” Samaras stated. “There’s a lot of history to be made here- we’d be the first Celtic team to win in Italy and it would be the record number of wins for the club in a European season.
“If this is to be the end, it’d be great to finish on a high. That would be a nice feeling. No one really gives us a chance, but then no one gave my country Greece a chance at Euro 2004 and we won it.
“Like Greece, Celtic don’t have superstars, but we have the teamwork and sometimes that can beat technical ability or speed and other qualities.
“We showed that against Barcelona, so there’s no reason why we can’t do it again. We believe in ourselves and in our team- we’re not in Italy for a holiday.”
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