Lennon full of pride after Celtic stun Barça
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
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Neil Lennon was bursting with joy after one of the "proudest nights" of his career, as Celtic FC defeated FC Barcelona, whose Tito Vilanova praised his players despite the loss.
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Neil Lennon, Celtic manager
It is right up there as one of the proudest nights of my career. It was a monumental effort on the [125th] anniversary of the club. I wanted the players to do justice tonight, and they have surpassed that and beaten the best team in the world. It was the toughest test of their careers and they came through with flying colours. It was due to teamwork and due to discipline. We knew we could threaten [Jordi] Alba in the air, and Charlie Mulgrew is one of best set-piece takers around. [Victor] Wanyama was great again as well.
Then you try and weather the storm and there is not much you can do but we came through it. [Tony] Watt scored a brilliant second goal and he will go down in the history books. I am not saying this is the pinnacle for this team, there is more to come from them, but the progress has been great. It gives us a great chance to qualify. We have got to go to Benfica, but we will cross that bridge when we come to it. I want the players to enjoy the moment. It was a special night here. I have never seen an atmosphere as good as that.
Tito Vilanova, Barcelona coach
There is nothing to blame the players for, on the contrary. We must congratulate their effort to read the game properly from the beginning. I think we deserved the victory. We tried everything until the end. We made a mistake at a set piece and they seized their opportunity. We have only conceded two corners, and they scored from one of them. We must also congratulate Celtic for their good game, for winning and for their spectacular supporters.
Before their first goal we had a clear chance to score, and I think the game would have been very different. I think we had enough chances to win the match. We have our weapons and we play this way at home or away. I think if there are many games like this, we will win the majority, but that was not the case today. If we had won we would be sure to top the group, but there are two games left, and we depend on ourselves. The atmosphere in the stadium was spectacular. We must congratulate them for their 125 years and hopefully many more to follow.
