.
Uefa issued a suspended ban on Celtic selling tickets for an away fixture in Europe in response to the lighting of fireworks during the hammering at Borussia Dortmund. Should Uefa deem a smoke bomb, tossed on to the Villa Park playing surface during celebrations for Adam Idah’s first goal, triggers that sanction then no Celtic fans will travel to Munich or Madrid next month. Ouch. So much depends on the report submitted by Adrian Casha, Uefa’s delegate at this game. Celtic are praying for leniency.
Celtic can enter the playoff tie with confidence, buoyed by their reaction to Aston Villa’s early onslaught. Villa emerged victorious and deservedly so but there were aspects to Celtic’s performance that further demonstrated a maturity at European football’s elite level. There should be a morale boost after making this match far more tetchy for Villa than it initially looked would be the case. Celtic’s players deserved the warm applause at full time that arrived from fans who hung around. That recognition was for an entire campaign, yielding 12 points and featuring memorable matches. This was one of them. Celtic are worthy of praise for competing with a team of Villa’s standing. For too long, they had been European cannon fodder.
“The word that comes to me right now is pride,” Brendan Rodgers said. “After the second goal, there is a question asked of you. To take the game right to injury time, with it in the balance, was a great effort by the players.”
On that wounding night in Dortmund, the roof had caved in on Celtic by half-time. Villa were horrendously wasteful, which assisted the Celtic cause. Still, the visitors showed poise and bravery …
Read More
