Ok, just some thoughts on last night's games. firstly Porto vs. Rangers.....
I was extremely impressed with Rangers last night, but equally as disappointed by Porto! Yes, they have some very talented players with great technical ability, and the goal Diaz scored was right out of the top drawer. However, I had expected much more from them at home, and for them to be rather more dangerous and creative in attack than they were.
They also gave possession of the ball away rather a lot, which is quite unusual for a Portuguese side, and just didn't threaten the Rangers goal as often as I thought they would've done, being the home side. So yes, Porto do deserve to be one of the competition's top seeds, and don't get me wrong are a good team, but one currently not at the peak of their powers, hence why they're playing in the Europa League this season, and not the CL.
However, one of the reasons that Porto didn't play well is because Rangers didn't allow them to! I thought that Gerrard got his team selection and tactics spot on. and which nullified much of Porto's attacking threat. Rangers scored a goal of the highest calibre with great teamwork that would have graced a Champions League final and were very unlucky not to win, as I thought they were overall the better side.
Morelos was immense and showed what a top goalscoring talent he is on the European stage (not just in the SPL), by giving the Porto defence problems all night. Kent showed his class and that he's going to be a big asset for Rangers in the title race, until he ran out of steam, as he wasn't fully match fit, McGregor pulled off two world-class saves at the end to ensure that Rangers left with a point. Davis was also immense, and in Helander (whom I've always rated), Rangers have now got a truly top-quality centre half.
All in all, it was a magnificent performance from Rangers. Porto will of course be dangerous in the rematch at Ibrox, but I honestly believe that Rangers can beat them at home, and also YB, who in my opinion are the best team in the group. The toughest test for Rangers I feel will be Feyenoord away. Great stuff though, and Gerrard clearly knows how to set up his team to play well in Europe!
As for Celtic vs. Lazio, all the talk beforehand was on how Lazio, for an Italian team, supposedly had a weak defence. Well, aside from the goal they conceded at the end from our corner kick, where Jullien was completely unmarked, if that was a poor Italian defence, I'd hate to see a good one!!
They were extremely well organised, positionally aware and very determined and physical throughout the match, which is why despite playing very well in the first half we found it hard to score, and despite having created many chances. Going forward Lazio carried plenty of threat, but were sometimes guilty of poor finishing. We defo rode our luck at times! Overall though, I was more impressed with them than Porto, although that's taking nothing away from Rangers' performance against them. However for me, Lazio are a better side and undoubtedly the best we've played so far in the group.
Standouts for Celtic were Forster, who is now beginning to deliver his full potential and look like he could win another England cap, if he keeps up this level of performance. His save at the end from Cataldi was verging on inhuman, and simply SPECTACULAR!! Jullien is now looking every inch a £7m central defender, indeed on current form he seems somewhat of a bargain, and was calm and assured all night, mopping up most of the danger Lazio posed, ably assisted by Ajer.
However, man of the match for me was Ryan Christie.... He was simply immense throughout, scoring one and creating the assist, from the corner kick, for Jullien's winner. Aside from his totally out of character 'mishap' against Livi, every time he plays, he makes a big difference to the team. He's just getting better with every game! Another major bargain signing for us in 2015, at a mere £500k from Inverness Caley. Pure 'sweety money'... What price on him now, I wonder??
I think we probably only need another 3 points now to qualify for the knockout stages of the competition, and which I think is more than achievable. Lazio away, in the next game, will be very difficult, as they'll be out for revenge, but I think we're capable of getting a point in Rome, ditto with Cluj away, and I feel confident we can beat Rennes at home, so that would equal a total of 12 points.However, we'll see, as there's still lots of football to be played!
However, both Rangers and Celtic did Scottish football proud last night, and also helped improve our co-efficient, but certainly the reputation of the SPL and silenced the doom and gloom merchants who are often so quick to rubbish the standard of the SPL. If Rangers and Celtic keep that up, and indeed continue to improve, then we may be awarded another CL place in the SPL and reduce the amount of qualifying games the winner has to play. It certainly shows, however, that when they both play to their potential, especially at home, that they can compete against top-quality opposition.
Lastly, the funniest moment of the night, which I don't believe anyone's picked up on so far, least of all the match commentators, was a section of the Celtic support holding up a 'Fuck off' banner to the Lazio fans (namely their vile fascist element):
"Vaffanculo", in Italian means 'Fuck off', and yet no-one seemed to bat an eyelid!!
Marco.