QARABAG 0 (0)
CELTIC 0 (1)
CELTIC SEALED THEIR progression to the play-off stage of UEFA Champions League qualifying with a drab goalless draw at Qarabag on Wednesday.
The Scottish champions led 1-0 from last week’s first leg in Glasgow, in which Dedryck Boyata found the net, but rarely threatened to add to their slim advantage at the Tofiq Bahramov Stadium in Baku.
Indeed it was Qarabag who posed the bigger threat for the most part, Craig Gordon leaping to his right to keep out a Richard Almeida strike midway through the first half.
But the hosts lacked the required quality in the final third and failed to punish a lacklustre Celtic display, although – in defence of Ronny Deila’s men - they did not need to score and will not concern themselves with the manner of their progression in difficult conditions.
Much had been made of the state of the pitch in the build-up to the fixture, with the playing surface having endured soaring temperatures in the Azerbaijan capital, but stadium bosses – with the help of a Scottish groundsman – managed to bring it up to a playable standard.
And it was the home side who took control early on, although Reynaldo’s use of an arm spelt the end of a promising opportunity after eight minutes.
Qarabag continued to look most likely to break the deadlock and, after seeing Gordon flap at a cross from the right moments earlier, Almeida drew a superb diving save from the Scotland international with a strike from 20 yards out.
Players were afforded a drinks break on the half-hour mark to combat the impact of the heat, but the hosts’ thirst for an equalising goal in the tie remained unquenched at the break.
Alharbi El Jadeyaoui failed to test Gordon with an attempted chip shortly after half-time, before Nadir Ciftci curled over from the edge of the box at the other end following some neat build-up play.
Chances remained few and far between as hopes of an upset began to fade for Qarabag, but they saw calls for a penalty rejected when an apparent Boyata push went unpunished.
Stefan Johansen poked wide for Celtic in the closing stages, yet that miss did not come back to haunt them as Deila’s side held on for an aggregate victory.
Elsewhere, Robin Van Persie will not be playing Champions League football this season, after his Fenerbahce side were defeated 3-0 on the night and 3-0 on aggregate by Shakhtar Donetsk.
Have to hand it to the man, he has done a fantastic job with them, most managers of his caliber wouldn’t go near a team like Leicester, they usually only want clubs that can bring the very best players with alot of money in the bank and already have a team of stars. If they get champions league he is kind of manager that can attract star names for next season
I don’t think Ranieri’s stock was particularly high after being sacked from his last 3 jobs so to be honest, a mid to bottom of the table club in any league was always going to be the best he could get but credit where credit is due. I doubt Guardiola or Mourinho could have done a better job. The problems for Leicester will come next season. Will the players lose their hunger? Will they become big time charlies and demand wage increases? If they bring in better quality players, how will that effect team balance/moral, etc…
Top 4 is a near certainty hopefully at the very least top 3 so they go straight into the champions league, adding about 8 players has to be done at least with the extra games and the increased pressure on them , honestly I don’t fancy their chances of doing anything similar next season I hope they prove me wrong but they need to add to the squad
Beano, every manager with a bit of experience, comes to his interview, having been sacked from his last number of jobs, this man is just a breath of fresh air , and it’s showing in the performances, the players get it, they are enjoying themselves , and I think they will win that league, if they don’t it will not be because they freeze it will be because Spurs are coming into form.
I don’t think Leicester will win the league. Don’t get me wrong, they’ve been brilliant and deserve all the credit they get but if you read some of the media you would think they were 5 or 10 points in the lead! If City win this weekend, which I think they will, they’ll go top and I honestly believe they’ll stay there until the end of the season.
Wait for it ………Leicester next home game and all the fans holding up signs saying ……….YES WE CAN . But I really hope they win it . Ranieri is a class act .
‘Never did I blame them and say we conceded this goal because you did this and this’ Take note Gary Neville
A point at City would be a great result at this stage and I wouldn’t put it past them. De Bruyne out is a boost too. It’s that time of year now where teams like Leicester will pick up points against The Gunners so my money would be on them for a result then.
Ranieri for United