Berg conquers Larsson's fortress

Marcus Berg was thrilled at scoring Hamburger SV's Group C winner at Celtic FC, his idol Henrik Larsson's former home, saying: "It's an honour to have played in the stadium where he made his name."

Larsson tribute
In the build-up to this UEFA Europa League encounter Berg had spoken of his admiration for countryman Larsson who scored 242 goals in seven trophy laden years at Celtic, and he admitted it was special to score the 63rd-minute winner which took Hamburg to the top of Group C. "It's a very nice feeling to score at Celtic Park," the 23-year-old told uefa.com. "I watched Henrik a lot when I was younger and it's an honour to have played in the stadium where he made his name. It was an important goal as we only won 1-0 and it's always nice to score the winning goal in any match."

Fortress crumbling
Predictably, the mood was more downbeat in the home dressing room, with Celtic now without a home win in four European games under manager Tony Mowbray. They had lost only once at Celtic Park in UEFA club competition in the previous eight years – against FC Barcelona, with Larsson among the scorers. "At a club like Celtic you're expected to win every game, especially in Europe," full-back Mark Wilson told uefa.com. "I played here towards the tail end of a period when Celtic Park had become a fortress in Europe. Teams feared coming here but I think we've lost some of that now. Disappointing is the word that sums it up. We're going through a spell just now where we're creating chances but not taking them."

'Very tough'
With just one point from three games, Wilson admits it is a tall order for Celtic to reach the knockout stages. "We'll try and win every game we can in the group but it's going to be very tough," he said. Hamburg are level at the top of the section with Hapoel TelAviv FC with six points from three games, five ahead of bottom side Celtic.

High ambitions
Berg is not writing off the Glasgow club just yet although he has loftier ambitions for his own side, setting his sights on this year's final at the Arena Hamburg. "I said from the beginning that Hamburg and Celtic were the favourites but that's maybe changed now," said Berg. "However, I still think Celtic have a chance. Our goal now is to win the group and go as far as we can in this competition, hopefully all the way to the final."