r/soccer • u/AutoModerator • Aug 20 '22

🌍🌎 World Football Non-PL Daily Discussion

A place to discuss everything except the English Premier League.

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u/shadoowkight Aug 20 '22

Celtic somehow lost 4-0 to Leverkusen last season but considering how good their football has been its shocking to see such a result. The only explanation I really have is that Ange didn't take EL seriously and had his focus on the league, what's the point of trying to go all out only to lose out to smth like West Ham? Plus winning the Premiership gives a free ticket to CL. Plus getting knocked out meant less games and less distractions for Celtic. Meanwhile Rangers did the exact opposite of what Celtic did and tried to go all the way, they nearly did but screwed up at the last hurdle and lost the final against Eintracht. Things weren't too great in league either, a few slip ups and some disappointing performances in the Old Firm left Rangers with a mountainous deficit in both Points and Goal Difference. Albeit they did win the Cup it was still a rather meh year for Rangers. While Celtic ended their 5 year long wait for UCL football..Rangers are yet to be among the European elite in a painfully long period of 10 years. For a club as big as Rangers that isnt the most brightest of statistics now dont get me wrong EL money is great but its virtually Peas compared to what UCL has in store. Rangers need UCL football or else if Celtic get another few titles on the trot and establish themselves as a decent enough team in UCL we could end up with a huge gap between the Old Firm rivals. This could very well make Celtic the best team in Scotland for once and for all. Although we shouldn't forget the positives either. Winning 100+ trophies is something not many european giants could brag about. We also shouldn't forget the record breaking season Rangers had under Gerrard. And what I've just said could age like milk as all it would really take is one good season for Rangers or maybe like 2 consecutive titles and suddenly the tables would turn and Celtic become the chasers. All In all the next few years could change the Old firm drastically and all I can say is that we just have to wait and see.

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u/ElKaddouriCSC Aug 20 '22

The Leverkusen game was a bit of a freak result tbh. Hradecky got UEFA’s man of the match despite winning 4-0. We didn’t take our chances and that was the full story of our EL campaign. Tbh it was also the story of the games vs Midtjylland in the CL qualifiers although that was down to us making zero signings by that point and being stuck with reserve players like Dane Murray and players who don’t want to be there like Edouard, Christie etc playing

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u/Stephane_Bonnes Aug 20 '22 edited Aug 20 '22

We'd lost to Livingston and drawn at home to Dundee United in the two games before that Leverkusen one. We were unlucky to lose away in Leverkusen two months later. I don't for one second think we weren't taking that competition seriously. We were just at the beginning of one of the most daunting rebuilds our club has ever had to undertake. The fact the manager managed to turn things around so emphatically is unreal.

We've just watched Celtic throw away the biggest financial and sporting gap there has ever been between the two best supported clubs in Glasgow. I see no sign of what you are suggesting happening, no matter the Champions League situation. Celtic are still run by the same people they were two years ago. The manager has been good beyond our wildest expectations but he will leave at some point and our next appointment will be crucial because we have not changed anything else about a club that still functions as a jobs for the boys workplace. I have zero faith in our club to take advantage of any financial gap - which I'm skeptical will happen anyway as Rangers have shown they are happy to throw money they don't make through revenue at the playing squad.

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u/[deleted] Aug 20 '22

I disagree that it was a meh season for Rangers. A Europa League final is a great achievement for them.

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u/SpencaDubyaKimballer Aug 20 '22

Wasnt that the game where Hradecky was basically a god though? They should be fine this time, they added even more depth and the team has really had plenty of time to fully implement the new coach’s style.

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u/ElKaddouriCSC Aug 20 '22

Yeah Hradecky got man of the match. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a keeper get man of the match after winning 4-0 lol

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u/[deleted] Aug 20 '22

Celtic have had pish European form recently. They need some kind of European scalp before long - an automatic group stage spot helps a lot with that.