In The Red Corner: Down But Far From Out In Glasgow

It was always going to be a tough night at Parkhead, and so it proved, as we went down to a sublime free kick from Sunshuke Nakamura that allowed Celtic to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions (sic) League for the first time.

Celtic have a proud record at home in Europe in recent years ? Barcelona, Juventus and Milan have all fallen there ? and last night it was our turn. As the half-time whistle blew it looked like it was only a matter of time before we scored and sealed the win. Celtic had barely gotten on the ball and ? bar a Thomas Gravesen header ? had barely threatened the goal. United?s passing had been slick and the quartet of Giggs, Ronaldo, Rooney and Saha had been buzzing menacingly around the Celtic back four.

If it weren?t for the whistles and jeers from the Celtic faithful every time we were on the ball you could have been forgiven for thinking we were the home side. Indeed, such was our domination of possession a friend of mine sent me a text message towards the end of the first half which read:

?Have Celtic had someone sent off or something??

No, they hadn?t, they had merely been forced back by our attacking intent. But, for all that, clear-cut chances were rare and the 0-0 scoreline at half time was little surprise. I felt confident that we continue on in the second half and bag the points. However, I didn?t contend with Wee Gordon Strachan changing things around as he did, taking of a striker in Zurawski bringing on Shaun Maloney to play on the wing and Jarosik to replace the anonymous Sno. Celtic were now practically playing with five in midfield (Strachan would probably say it was a 4-3-3 rather than a 4-5-1) and they improved.

Despite Celtic?s belated realisation that they were the home team and they should try to attack, the game still looked to be heading towards a 0-0 draw until Nakamura intervened. Or rather, until the referee did. I?ve seen Vidic?s supposed foul on Jarosik several times, and it was never a foul. Indeed the referee appeared to agree at first, before reacting the baying Parkhead crowd and awarding the free kick. I?m not going to blame the referee though. He made a poor decision, but it happens. It wouldn?t have mattered if we had taken our chances (like Saha?s penalty, more on that later?)

You knew what was going to happen when Nakamura stood over the ball. Just as he had at Old Trafford in the reverse fixture earlier this year, he curled a peach of a free kick past van der Sar into the top corner. 1-0, and I sensed that was it. Except it wasn?t. Not quite. Suddenly what had been a rather dull contest (though you wouldn?t think so to listen to ITV?s commentary or punditry team) sparked into life.

Barely five minutes after the Celtic goal and Saha should have equalised. Through on goal and probably marginally onside, Saha stopped, fully expecting to see the assistant?s flag. The flag never came, and realising this, the Frenchman tried to almost lazily scoop the ball over the advancing Artur Boruc, who made a relatively comfortable block. Saha was guilty of not playing to the whistle; it?s always best to assume you?re onside until you?re told otherwise, not the other way around. Just ask Shola Ameobi.

Then, with two minutes of normal time to go, we were saved. Penalty! It was perhaps a bit harsh on Maloney, alleged to have handballed a Ronaldo free kick, but I wasn?t complaining. Then Saha stepped up?

Saha has been our regular penalty taker this year, but I doubted he was in the right frame of mind to score after his point-blank miss earlier in the game. I saw him take his run-up and I thought to myself ?he?s missed it? and sure enough, Boruc guessed the right way and made the vital save. It seems that Gary Neville thought he would miss too. As Celtic captain Neil Lennon said after the game:

“Gary Neville actually came across and said to me about Saha, ‘his head has gone, he’s going to miss this.’”

Unfortunately for United, Neville was right, and with that miss our chances of salvaging a point had gone.

Still, it?s not all doom-and-gloom, far from it. We played well in the game and were unlucky to not get at least a draw. I think we?ll still qualify from the group and I?m actually quite optimistic about our chances of (whisper it) going all the way in the competition this year.

Now I know it?s only November and we still have a tough trip to Lisbon?s Stadio de Luz to negotiate ? eerie parallels of last year?s debacle ? but this is not just blind optimism. I don?t think we need to be truly frightened of any of the ?big names? in this year?s competition.

There?s Barcelona, without Eto?o and Messi until at least the New Year, and far from assured of qualification. AC Milan are closer to the bottom than the top of Serie A, with a creaking defence and mis-firing forward line (and they lost to AEK Athens last night). Inter have one of the biggest (and arguably best) squads in Europe, but are perennial bottlers and again are far from assured of qualification from their group at this stage. Valencia have a huge injury list, while Bayern Munich are having to contend with some competition for the Bundesliga for once and are likely to make that their priority this year. Then there?s Real Madrid, doing their best to conform to the stereotype of a Capello side ? dull, functional, and hard to beat. Except at the moment, they don?t look that hard to beat.

Of course there are teams on song ? if Barca don?t qualify from their group, free-scoring Werder Bremen will. Roma are playing some brilliant football while Totti continues to prove that he?s much better playing for his club than country. CSKA Moscow look like they?ll be a handful for any side, and Lyon are once again crushing all comers in the French League while playing some great football too – they?ve got to the quarters each time in the last three years and I would tip them to maybe win it this year if Houllier was not the boss. Come January he?ll probably realise he has yet to overload the squad with duffers and launch a bid for Albert Luque or something.

Then of course there?s Liverpool, who?well, I just can?t see them being good enough (then again I said that in 2004/2005, and look what happened there) while Arsenal, likewise, look beatable, although they showed last year that they can compete with the best.

Of course, come May I?m sure these words will come back to haunt me somehow. There?s a very good chance that one of the sides I?ve just effectively written off will be celebrating winning that coveted trophy and I?ll look like an idiot. But so what? I see no harm in indulging in idle speculation now and again, and I think it?s perfectly plausible to suggest that we have a good chance of winning the competition this year. Then again, the eagle-eyed among you may notice that I didn?t write off Chelsea. I still think they?re the favourites, but we?ll see?

Speaking of Chelsea, they visit Old Trafford this Sunday a game Sky will undoubtedly bill as The Most Important Event In The History Of Anything. If we win, we go six points clear. If we lose, Chelsea draw level on points. If we draw (and let the record state I believe we will) then we?re four points clear. Whatever happens, it should be interesting, and I?m sure I?ll be back soon after to pick over the bones of a defeat, giddily hail a victory or smugly discuss a draw.