SC Braga v Celtic - Champions League 3rd Round

[lisandro]

usually good streams here as most of you know but just in case

http://www.atdhe.net/

[Celtic76]

Going to say Braga 1-1 Celtic (Fortune)

[Celticrugby]

Lennon feeling calm ahead of braga test

Mark Henderson in Portugal

THE countdown is on. Neil Lennon’s first competitive match in charge since being appointed manager of Celtic last month is only a matter of hours away.

Tomorrow evening (Wednesday, July 28) the Hoops will face SC Braga in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round within the dramatic surroundings of the Portuguese side’s Estadio AXA.

It’s a game of huge importance to start off his reign, but Lennon has had plenty of experience of these occasions as a Celtic player.

And so far there are no pre-match nerves, just excitement about seeing how his team fare against tough opposition.

“I’m looking forward to it,” said the Hoops boss. “I haven’t had as much time as I would like to work with the players and prepare them for such an important game.

“But they seem in pretty good condition and they have done quite well since coming back from America, and I think there is a good focus and intensity about them as well.

“I actually felt more nervous as a player. The nerves haven’t really kicked in yet, if there are going to be any at all.

“I feel quite calm about things and obviously I have really good backroom staff that I’m pleased with as well, and who have been pretty supportive over the last few weeks. I’m looking forward to it and am looking forward to seeing how the team set up and gel.

“We are trying to build a squad not just for progressing in Scotland but for doing good things in Europe as well.

“Obviously this game has come very early, but Braga are in the same boat so we can’t use that as an excuse.”

Lennon has spoken much in recent weeks about the threat of Braga, who finished runners-up in the Portuguese League.

The Irishman was aware of their strengths even before the draw was made. He knows it will require an excellent display to improve on Celtic’s recent poor away record in Europe and get a good result.

“We have done as much homework as we could on Braga as we could. I know they were very consistent last year in the Portuguese League,” he said.“They won 24 out of 30 games and to come above Sporting and Porto and finish second.

“We know they are a quality side and had some good results in the UEFA Cup a couple of years ago, so we know we will be up against it.

“We don’t want to give ourselves too much to going back to Celtic Park. We know our home record at Celtic Park is really good, so if we can take some kind of result back to Scotland, I will be more than pleased with that.”

With new additions Gary Hooper and Efrain Juarez jetting out with the squad today, Lennon has plenty of options to ponder before announcing his starting XI.

He is certain of one thing though – the appetite among the squad to get a good result.

“Gary hasn’t trained at all, so we will assess him tonight,” the manager said. “Juarez looked okay in training and so did Cha, so they will be in contention for tomorrow night.

“There is a hunger about the players at the minute. The new boys have come in and really like the look of what they are coming in to. It’s very early days but we will give it a good shot tomorrow night.”

The only definite absentee tomorrow is Darren O’Dea, who didn’t travel to Portugal after sustaining a hamstring injury.

EDIT - Hinkel not in squad on UEFA site. Out the door?

[Celticrugby]

This line up tells me McGeady and Hinkel will be sold.

Lineups:

Zaluska
Juarez
Hooiveld
Brown
Samaras
Du-Ri
Maloney
Ki
Mulgrew
Loovens

Bench:

Cervi
Fortune
Crosas
Derry Pele
Rogne
Murphy
Forrest


So....

------------------Zaluska
Du-Ri----Loovens----------Hooiveld-----Mulgrew

-------------------Juarez

-----------Ki-----Brown-----------Ledley

-----Maloney------------------------Samaras

Or just....

----------------Zaluska
Du-Ri---Loovens---Hooiveld---Mulgrew
Juarez---Ki----------Brown------Ledley
-----Maloney-------------Samaras

for boring 4-4-2.

[The_Big_Easy]

http://www.iraqgoals.net/10528-sport...s-celtic-.html

[Celticrugby]

Bumblebee kit for this one.

'mon the Celtic.

[Celticrugby]

Still trying to work out this formation, it may just be Samaras up front by himself...get a free kick.

[Celticrugby]

Ki would be a great gaelic footballer with that shot.

[Celticrugby]

Mulgrew, yellow for taking too long to throw in the ball.

Glad to see the club bought a first choice LB.

[The_Big_Easy]

Why is the ball orange?

[Celticrugby]

No idea.

You watching on stream I assume?

This veetle stream from myp2p is nice enough.

[The_Big_Easy]

Originally Posted by Celticrugby

No idea.

You watching on stream I assume?

This veetle stream from myp2p is nice enough.

yeah, the atdhe one is good aswell. Mulgrews booking was very harsh

[Celticrugby]

Agreed. Never really seen that before.

He looks out of his depth though here, whereas everyone else looks somewhat settled.

[Joe1888]

Juarez, get a haircut.

[ILovePutasI]

fan support from both sides is good

[Celticrugby]

Some end to end stuff right now, pretty entertaining game.

Shame I'm going to have to miss the 2nd half because of boxing practice.

[ILovePutasI]

lots of fouls though :/

[Celticrugby]

This Alan? Guy. #30 with the insane hair. He looks like a player.

[Joe1888]

Penalty. Bollocks.

[Celticrugby]

Penalty. Yellow card to Ki for a hand in the box.

Thought it was harsh, this is typical Celtic not getting breaks in European games.

1-0 Braga.

[Joe1888]

That penalty was right on the postage stamp.

[Celticrugby]

Perfectly taken, but probably shouldn't have been given. Ball to hand IMO, KI jumps up to block the cross and it just happens to go off of that.

IMO, the ref was already pissed at Brown for giving him **** and that may have been in the back of his mind.

I've yet to see these soft/bull**** calls go against Braga. If there is any sort of hand in their box and its not called, then this ref is another incompetent ****.

[Celticrugby]

Man, they are really going after Juarez.

[g00nis]

Hand ball is a hand ball man you can't complain about that. Regardless of if its ball to hand or not.

[Celticrugby]

Originally Posted by g00nis

Hand ball is a hand ball man you can't complain about that. Regardless of if its ball to hand or not.

You can. Otherwise, the US would have had a penalty against Germany, Celtic would have had one against AC Milan etc.

Especially when you jump and your arms and hands are down by your side, not deliberately trying to block it.