Group G > Oct 2 (Barcelona, Benfica, Celtic, Spartak Moscow)

[kal_Dhillon]

Re: Group G > Oct 2 (Barcelona, Benfica, Celtic, Spartak Moscow)

Scottish League is not amateur and if Celtic can score many goals in their league I can see them scoring at least one against Spartak.

i think he just thinks the standard of scottish football isn't that strong as compared to other more established leagues.I think Lennon will set them up well here & on the counter.Spartak will be no mugs & going for the win,But i think they will leave gaps that celtic can exploit if they are clinical.

[Mustafa]

Re: Group G > Oct 2 (Barcelona, Benfica, Celtic, Spartak Moscow)

You are right mate and probably he may give easily penalty for any sides. So i am agree with you.

So, the cards markets are available and my picks are: Over 45 Booking Points @ 2.20 (4 units) William Hill Penalty Awarded @ 4.00 (1 unit) ​William Hill

[Mustafa]

Re: Group G > Oct 2 (Barcelona, Benfica, Celtic, Spartak Moscow)

i think he just thinks the standard of scottish football isn't that strong as compared to other more established leagues.I think Lennon will set them up well here & on the counter.Spartak will be no mugs & going for the win' date='But i think they will leave gaps that celtic can exploit if they are clinical.[/quote'] Also as was mentioned earlier Spartak's keeper Dikan is missing.

[The Undertaker]

Re: Group G > Oct 2 (Barcelona, Benfica, Celtic, Spartak Moscow)

I asked how they were lucky to be in the Champions League, as you stated previously? I'll now try my best to review the game and offer an insight from a supporters point of view. Personally I don't see why everyone or anyone for that matter is getting excited at the prospect of back the Russians at odds of around 1.5! Yes they have some quality players, as mentioned earlier by numerous other members and with home advantage you'd think they will have a real go to take all three points. However, this is the Champions League and odds backing anyone other than the 'big guns' at odds of around 1.5 is dangerous in my opinion. Neil Lennon will take his team into this in a confident fashion having won comfortably at the weekend and also being able to welcome back important players such as Samaras, Ledley and Kayal who could all make an appearance at some stage. Samaras in particular is a massive boost to the Scots if he is fit enough to play any part as he has the ability to offer an out ball to the defence with his lung bursting runs into the channels. Elsewhere look for Gary Hooper to continue his goal scoring form having scored 4 last week in the domestic cup game and then netting again on Saturday in a 2-0 win away to league leaders Motherwell (Celtic have now taken the top spot with that win). Fraser Forster in goals is enjoying his best spell ever as a professional player, he really is in the form of his life and he has shown this time and time again throughout last season and the start of this season. Kelvin Wilson is starting to look solid in the middle of defence and of course Chuck Mulgrew will be an important player as always. In my opinion the most important man in a Celtic strip tomorrow night will be Scott Brown, if he plays as well as he can then I would have more hope of Celtic snatching something. If he is on his game, he will drive the team forward at every opportunity whilst protecting his defence with solid and reliable cover. Overall Spartak have the talent to win the game, of course they do.....but at the odds on offer I would advise against backing them and instead opting elesewhere for your value.

i feel celtic are lucky to be in the champions league this season because they came up against helsingborg and hjk to qualify. If they came up against a good side like shakhtar, ajax, braga, or another side of this quality in the qualies then im sure Celtic woulfnt be in the Champ league this year. They got a lucky break in the qualies this season compared to the past 5 seasons where they didnt qualify. overall Celtic are not what they used to be. They are not a regular champ league side anymore. To tell you my honest opinion, i do t think theres another side in the champ league this season thats on the same level as celtic. I dont even think celtic would beat nordsjaelland to be fair.

[Scotlandspunter]

Re: Group G > Oct 2 (Barcelona, Benfica, Celtic, Spartak Moscow)

Watching the two games from matchday 1 Celtic got chance after chance created against them from the Portuguese but they just couldn't finish whereas Celtic didn't look very dangerous in attack having 0 shots on target. They look at their worst every time Benfica combined in midfield with the quick incisive passes. Consider that Spartak have quite a few South Americans and other foreigners who play just in that fashion, Emery will know the best tactics to employ. Spartak really deserved something against Barca the way they played. Just look at the second goal they scored. It was a real team goal with about 10 passes the length of the field and took real composure to finish it off. Celtic can't do that. The Luhzniki is very daunting with 89,000 screaming Russians, very few Celtic supporters and an artificial pitch. Celtic players have very little experience at this level and have probably never played in Russia before. Someone mentioned Celtic will push for the win with Barca games in mind. That's the best method of losing goals here I think. Other mental factors are that Celtic kept Spartak out of group a few seasons back so revenge factor, plus Unai Emery will feel it was unjust to leave Spain with no points so will want that rectified in this game. On paper Moscow have played their hardest game of the group and got alot of confidence from the way it played out. After that game in Spain there was an obvious subsequent upturn in domestic results. Now they will look to take 3 points from their easiest game on paper. Reading quotes coming from Celtic they are "full of confidence" because they won away at Motherwell. I think after 90 mins they will fully realise they have not just played Motherwell. A good yardstick for comparison is that Spartak had Barca under pressure and losing with 20 mins to go. When Celtic go to Spain I think they concede 4 goals in the first half. Good luck all

Did you honestly watch that first gameweek match between Celtic and Benfica? If so I have no idea how you can honestly give that summary of the game. Benfica had 2 shots on target the whole game, hardly chance after chance. Fair enough Celtic had no shots on target but I wouldn't suggest Benfica were dominant in an attacking sense at all, in fact I personally felt Celtic were fairly comfortable for the majority of the game and I was disappointed we did not push on a bit more for the goal in the end. With regards to TheUndertaker, Celtic can only beat who is put in front of them. They won their league comfortably last term out, they played two qualifying rounds against teams of similar standard, scoring eight and conceding one. If that is lucky qualifying form then albeit, I think your being extremely harsh.

[Fizruhas]

Re: Group G > Oct 2 (Barcelona, Benfica, Celtic, Spartak Moscow) It's really bizzare to see these odds on Spartak. No way anyone can go for that odd, and if there's someone i am very surprised. Russians show up @ Camp Nou, but are they worth here at this ridicilous odds? No matter that Celtic maybe is a different team and they will come tu russia and will play on sintetic pitch and so on and so on ... but that doesn't make sence at all. How many times happens when team after great effort comes up blind in the next game, the same here. i'll go for a Celtic DNB 5.3@unibet (2/10)

[LFC5X]

Re: Group G > Oct 2 (Barcelona, Benfica, Celtic, Spartak Moscow) Found it interesting that in the last 5 games both teams have had the exact same results. (3W 1D 1L) and Spartak's opposition hasn't neccesarily been superior to Celtics, besides Barca of course. I doubt ill be betting on this match but ATM I'm leaning towards BTS purely because Spartak haven't kept a clean sheet in the last 12 games.

[Marek_Hamsik]

Re: Group G > Oct 2 (Barcelona, Benfica, Celtic, Spartak Moscow) I think i will go with the flow... Spartak to win @ 1,55 Fortuna well we did see barca vs. spartak, where spartak wasnt that bad, 3 wins since that... sure 2 major missing s which can be replaced for tonights match :) everybody knows celtic and i have got a lot of respect for this club, but i cant see how they should get points from moscow... firstly i was considering bTTS but im not sure about celtic ability to score... so a win for moscow 8/10 c.l.

[Lapumpa]

Re: Group G > Oct 2 (Barcelona, Benfica, Celtic, Spartak Moscow) Hi guys, my first post here. Celtic and Benfica presented us with, imo, the worst footbal game of the previous round. I don't remember see Celtic shooting to goal, as I don´t remember seing Celtic playing the good football that they played some years ago. ANd, they were playing home, where they always manage to get points. I think that they will have a bad time in Russia, as for the good momento from Spartak and the unsetled football from the scotish side. Benfica, in normal days would crash Celtic in a blink of an eye, but Benfica is cripled too. They didn't managed the absence of Witsel and Javi Garcia, that were the heart of that midfield. Last game with Paços de Ferreira, Benfica started very insecure, and let the opositors score in the first atempt. They managed to win the game, but with a lot of dificculties and a bit of luck. I know odds in Spartak are not that big but for what I saw from Celtic this is a good price. Benfica will play at home with full venue, and imo this is the only advantage that they have. Barcelona have all the tools to crush this cripled and shaky benfica side. Good luck everyone! Back Spartak & Back Barcelona P.s. Sorry for the English. I'm portuguese.

[Scotlandspunter]

Re: Group G > Oct 2 (Barcelona, Benfica, Celtic, Spartak Moscow)

Hi guys, my first post here. Celtic and Benfica presented us with, imo, the worst footbal game of the previous round. I don't remember see Celtic shooting to goal, as I don´t remember seing Celtic playing the good football that they played some years ago. ANd, they were playing home, where they always manage to get points. I think that they will have a bad time in Russia, as for the good momento from Spartak and the unsetled football from the scotish side. Benfica, in normal days would crash Celtic in a blink of an eye, but Benfica is cripled too. They didn't managed the absence of Witsel and Javi Garcia, that were the heart of that midfield. Last game with Paços de Ferreira, Benfica started very insecure, and let the opositors score in the first atempt. They managed to win the game, but with a lot of dificculties and a bit of luck. I know odds in Spartak are not that big but for what I saw from Celtic this is a good price. Benfica will play at home with full venue, and imo this is the only advantage that they have. Barcelona have all the tools to crush this cripled and shaky benfica side. Good luck everyone! Back Spartak & Back Barcelona P.s. Sorry for the English. I'm portuguese.

I don't know if you mean in years gone by Benfica would crush Celtic in the blink of an eye, if you do then your mistaken. Celtic beat benfica 3-0 last time the sides met prior to gameweek 1 this year. As I said previously I just think it's a very very risky ploy to back any team outside the big guns at odds of 1.5 ish in this cometition, but if that's what you want to do then, good luck to you.

[Jase82]

Hi guys' date=' my first post here.[/quote'] Welcome to PL! Good luck with your bets :)

[TotoSchillaci]

Re: Group G > Oct 2 (Barcelona, Benfica, Celtic, Spartak Moscow) People are getting the idea we are bashing celtic here. Not at all. I wouldn't be confident of backing any team away to one of the better Russian teams. That's including English, Spanish Italian big boys etc. This is because Russia is simply a real tough place to visit if you're not at 100% It's like the Bermuda triangle. Recently we've seen alot of signings and investments by the richer Russian teams and there is a real feel of a Russian revolution going on where these clubs are launching an assault on Europe and want to rub shoulders with the elite. We saw this in past seasons with Rubin Kazan vs Barca twice and it almost happened two weeks ago again to the Spanish giants vs Spartak who were only bailed out by Messi. These Russian teams even take the Europa league seriously as Anzhi showed against Udinese last time when they fielded a full strength lineup vs an Udinese team minus Di Natale and several other starters. The fact that they are playing Celtic only strengthens this view because they showed that they couldn't take the game to Benfica at Parkhead. Benfica were playing nowhere near their best either. Celtic are a battling side they fight hard. But this level of competition requires more. If this were Chelsea or Juve or Real Madrid I wouldn't even feel confident backing them in Russia. If these teams did win it would probably be ugly and by a single goal. So it's not so much anti Celtic but pro Russia. Because the Russians know these teams are uncomfortable going there and they use everything they can weather etc to their advantage.

[Scotlandspunter]

Re: Group G > Oct 2 (Barcelona, Benfica, Celtic, Spartak Moscow)

People are getting the idea we are bashing celtic here. Not at all. I wouldn't be confident of backing any team away to one of the better Russian teams. That's including English, Spanish Italian big boys etc. This is because Russia is simply a real tough place to visit if you're not at 100% It's like the Bermuda triangle. Recently we've seen alot of signings and investments by the richer Russian teams and there is a real feel of a Russian revolution going on where these clubs are launching an assault on Europe and want to rub shoulders with the elite. We saw this in past seasons with Rubin Kazan vs Barca twice and it almost happened two weeks ago again to the Spanish giants vs Spartak who were only bailed out by Messi. These Russian teams even take the Europa league seriously as Anzhi showed against Udinese last time when they fielded a full strength lineup vs an Udinese team minus Di Natale and several other starters. The fact that they are playing Celtic only strengthens this view because they showed that they couldn't take the game to Benfica at Parkhead. Benfica were playing nowhere near their best either. Celtic are a battling side they fight hard. But this level of competition requires more. If this were Chelsea or Juve or Real Madrid I wouldn't even feel confident backing them in Russia. If these teams did win it would probably be ugly and by a single goal. So it's not so much anti Celtic but pro Russia. Because the Russians know these teams are uncomfortable going there and they use everything they can weather etc to their advantage.

I appreciate and respect yours views Toto, and I can see where your coming from. However, can you honestly see value in backing the home side at 1.5 tonight? Of course they have the ability to win, any team who scores two at the Camp Nou are no mugs. I just can't see the value in backing the Russians here in what will be sure to be a difficult game, especially considering they are missing various players and Celtic can welcome back some of their better players. Each to their own but I think there is value to be had elsewhere in this round.

[TotoSchillaci]

Re: Group G > Oct 2 (Barcelona, Benfica, Celtic, Spartak Moscow) PS I made the mistake of backing Real Madrid away to CSKA Moskva last season in the round of 16... finished 1-1 and the game was pretty even, In spain it was a different story 4-1. But you could tell Madrid would have preferred to finish the tie in Russia but couldn't. Point is Russia was the great leveler. Now I don't think you can say Spartak and CSKA are of vastly different quality. But Madrid and this Celtic team certainly are. Someone mentioned that 9 or 10 players made their CL proper debuts vs Benfica fortnight ago. I see this a massive factor.

[gambletastic]

Re: Group G > Oct 2 (Barcelona, Benfica, Celtic, Spartak Moscow) Anyone have some insight as to why Spartak are now out to 1.71? I I can't find much in the way of team news.

[TotoSchillaci]

Re: Group G > Oct 2 (Barcelona, Benfica, Celtic, Spartak Moscow)

I appreciate and respect yours views Toto, and I can see where your coming from. However, can you honestly see value in backing the home side at 1.5 tonight? Of course they have the ability to win, any team who scores two at the Camp Nou are no mugs. I just can't see the value in backing the Russians here in what will be sure to be a difficult game, especially considering they are missing various players and Celtic can welcome back some of their better players. Each to their own but I think there is value to be had elsewhere in this round.

Point taken mate. By no means are Celtic mugs either and they'll always give a respectable performance. Um I took the -1 AH 2.02 initially @ Pinnacle however it has now blown out to 2.35. Don't know what to make of this but I don't like the look of it. :unsure

[TotoSchillaci]

Re: Group G > Oct 2 (Barcelona, Benfica, Celtic, Spartak Moscow)

Point taken mate. By no means are Celtic mugs either and they'll always give a respectable performance. Um I took the -1 AH 2.02 initially @ Pinnacle however it has now blown out to 2.35. Don't know what to make of this but I don't like the look of it. :unsure

Eariler today it came into 1.86 opened 2.02 into 1.86 now at 2.35 sweating here...

[Jase82]

I just can't see the value in backing the Russians here in what will be sure to be a difficult game' date=' especially considering they are missing various players and Celtic can welcome back some of their better players.[/quote'] I think all things relative you have to consider the overall strength and quality of those missing players, and the how much the players returning for Celtic will improve the ability of the squad as a whole, or effect the play of the side in question. Returning players may be a boost to the overall squad but how much will they effect things against Spartak?

[Jase82]

Don't know what to make of this but I don't like the look of it. :unsure

It's probably just a case that Celtic are being backed a bit because they always put in a good performance. I wouldn't worry too much personally. It just increases the value if you already saw value in Spartak.

[Aidymac]

Re: Group G > Oct 2 (Barcelona, Benfica, Celtic, Spartak Moscow) Let's get 1 thing straight. Any team that qualifies for the Champions League, is there on merit. Celtic won their domestic league last year, Spartal Moscow came 4th in the Russian League, so if anything, Celtic have more right to be in the Champions League than Spartak, afterall it is the "Champions" League.

[Lapumpa]

Re: Group G > Oct 2 (Barcelona, Benfica, Celtic, Spartak Moscow) I agreed with you, it's a risk to back such odds. But at this time my intuition is highly marked from the very poor performance from Celtic side against Benfica (before that I saw them against St. Johnstone and Hibernian). They travel to Russia, to play in a sinthetic pitch against a motivated team. The only thing they have in their side is their footbal that, from what I saw, it's not in their best days. All in all, it's a bet that I'll only take live. And when i say that benfica would crush Celtic, is based on the good football that benfica been playing since the signing of coach Jorge Jesus. There's a Benfica after and before his signing and I can tell you that this little thing makes a huge diference. BEnfica table positions after and before Jorge Jesus: 2006/2007 - 3rd place 2007/2008 - 4th place 2008/2009 - 3rd place 2009/2010 - Champion (Jorge Jesus signing) 2010/2011 - 2nd place 2011/2012 - 2nd place If Celtic that I saw last weeks, would met Benfica from last year, I think that they wouldn't take a chance. I know that you probably have other opinion, but this is only one way to see the game. Celtic just seemed poor to me, as well as Benfica. Two poor teams, that if they have the bad luck of challenging teams playing good football, they will definitively strugle. In my opinion Barça and Spartak are playing good football (better than Celtic and Benfica for sure). And let me tell you, my opinion is not influenced by my nationality. I just hate Benfica, and his pretentious coach. I'm a F.C.Porto fan! Thanks for the feedback.

[Aidymac]

Re: Group G > Oct 2 (Barcelona, Benfica, Celtic, Spartak Moscow) *Spartak Moscow WIN @ 1.71 Betfair* At 1.50, i would not have backed Spartak. At this price, i definately think they are worth backing. Dykan, Parshivlyuk, Romulo and Welliton are all still out for Moscow, but i still think they have enough strength in depth to win this game. Neil Lennon is going to set up most likely with a 4-5-1 formation with Hooper up front on his own. Also, someone criticised Aidan McGeady earlier in the thread. He got voted 2nd best winger in the Russian League last year, even though he joined them half way through the season. He has 9 goals and 21 assists for them in 66 games for the club, that ratio would be good for any club. He is a very effective player for them, and playing against his own club, he will be pumped for this match. Celtic didn't have a shot on target at home to Benfica, which just is not good enough. If they can't threaten the goal at home, do they expect to threaten the goal in Russia? Spartak gave Barcelona a real fright at Camp Nou where they led and lost 3-2 at the end, but scoring 2 goals in Barcelona should give them plenty of confidence. Celtic have won just 1 of their last 10 champions league matches. 1 win, 3 draws, 6 losses, and they have also failed to score in 5 of their last 8 champions league games. I think Spartak will be too strong for Celtic, but i do respect Celtic as a club, they are in the Champions League on merit, and let's not forget this club won the European Cup back in 1967, if you think Celtic have no hope against Spartak, fair enough, but respect them as a club.

[sajtion]

Re: Group G > Oct 2 (Barcelona, Benfica, Celtic, Spartak Moscow) i think spartak is going to beat celtic at least 3-0. they have showed their strength against barcelona by scoring two goals and imagine they are even better at home. celtic just don't inspire me at all. although they played a goalless draw in first match i didn't see any hints of improving team or threat coming from them.

[HastGill1]

Re: Group G > Oct 2 (Barcelona, Benfica, Celtic, Spartak Moscow) Spartak's price is becoming more backable now, and will certainly continue to rise I would have thought. If 1.75 is available by ko I will probably take it on a small stake, things have got slightly heated in this thread but there is no getting away from the fact that Celtic have failed time and time again away in Europe against sides from better leagues, we all know the stats. Spartak are hardly ripping up trees in the Russian league right now but are generally known to be a strong home team, the game tonight will be the real test of how Lennon can get Celtic performing as a unit I don't think they can compete player for player but if they approach the game with the right attitude and set-up they might be able to get a draw. Its a tough one to call from a 'value' point of view, although that is obviously a subjective opinion, I would say anything above 1.75 is a backable price, others might disagree..certainly not a massive play from my point of view.

[TrendlineSports]

Re: Group G > Oct 2 (Barcelona, Benfica, Celtic, Spartak Moscow) SpartakMoscow vs. Celtic

Celtic’sfirst match at home was a farce. Iwatched it and I couldn’t believe my eyes. This was an arranged draw between the clubs. Look Celtic had ZERO SHOTS ON GOAL all matchand Benfica had TWO SHOTS ON GOAL. Sothe mighty Celtic’s home record still stands. It’s still a fortress, give me a break.

SpartakMoscow’s match versus Barca could have been historic as they found themselvesleading after 59’. Let’s be clear hearSpartak were out played and possession was Barca’s 72% of the time. Spartak’s only 2 shots on goal went in. They will be without Romulo today and theirmain keeper Andrew Dikan. However,Spartak have no less than 4 Brazilians and 2 Argentines and many Europeaninternationals including former Celtic Aiden McGeady who plays for Sprtak nowand has 2 goals and 3 assists to date.

Thematch in Barcelona although they lost gave Spartak a huge boost of confidenceas they have won their last three matches since (3-1, 1-2, 1-3).

Itseems the ZERO SHOT ON GOAL DRAW versus Benfica boosted Celtic’s confidence tooas they have won their last three since as well (2-0, 4-1, 0-2). In those three matches Celtic managed 11, NoInfo, 12 shots on goal in the three matches respectively.

Howdo you go from ZERO SHOTS ON GOAL to an average of 11.5 shots on goal? That’s because Celtic don’t belong in theChampions League and other factors pertaining to that match that I cannotcomment on as I have been warned.

Theywill be on their own merit in Russia and since Benfica and Barcelona are thetwo teams expected to advance in this group it will be up to the Head-to-Headmatches between Celtic and Spartak that will determine 3^rd place.

Inconclusion, Celtic may feel mighty in attack in the SPL but they are toothlessinternationally. Spartak Moscow is toomuch offense for them. I looked a dozentimes at this match and for the life of me I can’t see how Celtic will handlethe Spartak offense and they certainly do not pose any legitimate threat ofattack.

Spartak Moscow -1 (2.20)

Froment I could not reply to the PM yousent me or I would have explained to you privately, in detail.

Please feel free to contact associatesof mine: Declan Hill, author and Les Dickens, FIFA Media Official. They will support my claims.

Have a great day!

[Aidymac]

Re: Group G > Oct 2 (Barcelona, Benfica, Celtic, Spartak Moscow) *Benfica v Barcelona - Over 2.5 Goals @ 1.68 Betfair* Hopefully we will see some goals tonight, and i think we will. 4 of Barca's last 6 away champions league games have been over, and we all know about the attacking prowess that they possess. They have won all 6 games in the league so far this season, 4 of which have gone over. Last weekend, they played Sevilla away and scored 2 late goals in a game that finished 3-2. A boost for Barca is that Iniesta, Puyol and Adriano return to the squad, but we don't know if they will play or not. With Messi in the team, we can always expect a goal, or a few from Barcelona. In saying that, Benfica are no pushovers, especially at home, but have not beaten Spanish oppositon for 30 years. I expect a tough encounter, with Barcelona to edge it 2-1 hopefully, let's hope we see some goals and a Messi masterclass.

[Scotlandspunter]

Re: Group G > Oct 2 (Barcelona, Benfica, Celtic, Spartak Moscow)

Point taken mate. By no means are Celtic mugs either and they'll always give a respectable performance. Um I took the -1 AH 2.02 initially @ Pinnacle however it has now blown out to 2.35. Don't know what to make of this but I don't like the look of it. :unsure

Thanks for the reply friend. I think your bet is more backable than those who have backed Spartak on the straight win at odds of 1.5. I also tend to agree that Spartak are more appealing the closer they get to 1.8, however as a celtic fan I could still not back them! Also agree with Aidymac that Celtic are in the CL because they deserve to be there as champions of their league and the winners of two qualifeirs.

[The Undertaker]

Re: Group G > Oct 2 (Barcelona, Benfica, Celtic, Spartak Moscow) Spartak were never priced as low as 1.5 i dont think

[longy70]

Re: Group G > Oct 2 (Barcelona, Benfica, Celtic, Spartak Moscow)

Spartak were never priced as low as 1.5 i dont think

went to 1.52 on betfair

[Aidymac]

Re: Group G > Oct 2 (Barcelona, Benfica, Celtic, Spartak Moscow)

Spartak were never priced as low as 1.5 i dont think