Celtic will be underdogs, without a doubt. But that didn't seem
to bother anyone on European evenings.' Those are the words of
Martin O'Neill, who led Celtic to a European final three years ago,
and the man who replaced him as manager of the Scottish champions,
Gordon Strachan, agrees.
Yes, Celtic will be underdogs when they travel to Old Trafford on
Wednesday to take on Manchester United in what many are billing as
the Battle of Britain, but, as O'Neill proved when he guided Celtic
to a second-round win over Blackburn in 2002 and a quarter-final
victory over Liverpool a year later, Scottish clubs need not fear
their so-called stronger English cousins.
'The differences between the two leagues are obvious,' said
O'Neill, who now manages Aston Villa. 'The Premiership is very,
very strong and the SPL is not, but that doesn't mean one can't
beat the other in a one-off game.'
It is a fact that has not escaped United manager Sir Alex Ferguson,
who is aware of the dangers his team face in such a potentially
explosive tie. 'What you've got to do with games like this is get
rid of the Scotland-England rivalry because that only makes it
harder,' he said. 'It's easy to get caught up in the emotion if
you're not careful because games like this don't come around very
often.
Ferguson is willing to admit that he made the mistake of
underestimating a team with history behind them in the group stage
last season, when United were not only eliminated by Benfica but
consigned to finishing bottom, missing out on the consolation of a
Uefa Cup place. 'Who would have thought that, looking at the table
beforehand?' said Ferguson. 'We couldn't even get into the Uefa Cup
and who would have believed that with the group of players we
have?'
But Strachan has been buoyed by the signings of former Everton
midfielder Thomas Gravesen from Real Madrid and PSV Eindhoven
striker Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, as well as the considerably
less costly Wolves left-back Lee Naylor.
'It's players that make managers and players who get results. What
it boils down to is that formations and tactics don't matter as
much as how players perform. The one certainty about United is that
they have pace everywhere and that is something we will have to
address specifically. Otherwise, we will rely on our own strengths
to get ourselves a result.'
