Real Madrid 3—3 Manchester City.

I’ve never been to Spain or the Santiago Bernabéu, the state-of-the art domed stadium, where the pitch is rolled out before the multimillionaire players warm up. I saw Real Madrid under the bright lights of Paradise in their white strips. Johnny Doyle (RIP) scored a double and we we went to the home of Real Madrid and got gubbed 3—0. Laurie Cunningham was the star of the show then. More recently, ‘Don’ Carlo Ancelotti came up against Ange ball and did that slightly patronising thing that all managers do of praising the unique atmosphere of Parkhead while grabbing the points. In the return leg the referee gave the Ancelloti’s  multimillion pound team two early penalties for nothing and they ran away with a 5—1 victory, without breaking sweat. Jota celebrated his late free kick as if he’d won the Champions League. Fat chance. These teams are in a different league entirely.

Brendan Rodgers in his first incarnation of saviour (before it all went wrong in a familiar way) did run Josep “Pep” Guardiola Sala close. 3—3 draw at Parkhead. Our previous with these teams is accepting our place in the football world. After the 3—3 draw with Ranger, Real Madrid go it with Champion League holders and favourites and draw 3—3.

I used to watch every and all football matches on the telly. Arsenal v Manchester City, for example, promised much but was a dreadfully boring game in which nothing much happens over 95 minutes.

With three goals in the first 15 minutes, this was much better and more entertaining. I’m not entirely sure what Jack Grealish is for. He seems to get rave reviews for not doing very much more than back-pedalling and falling over. I don’t think he went past the full-back all night. But in two minutes he bought a free kick. Bernardo Silva looked to cross it into the box. Instead, his 25-yard free-kick rounded what little wall there was and past goalkeeper Andriy Lunin, who was late to react, flapped as the ball passed him. Terrible defending and goalkeeping of the lowest order.

Manchester City played a big part in their downfall. Vinícius Júnior caused all kinds of chaos with simple balls played behind the City defence. Eduardo Camavinga’s deflected shot made it 1-1, Rúben Dias gifting an OG in 12 minutes and most improbable of all, Rodrygo giving Madrid the lead two minutes later. The stadium was bouncing as the Madrid turned it around.

Júnior had a big chance to make it 3—1 but hit the side netting after half time.

Phil Foden’s equaliser was a thing of beauty. With Kevin de Bruyne’s injury Foden had stepped into the number ten role behind the striker. I’ve seen lots of Erling Haaland recently. None of it has been good. Foden is a giant of the game, but here he too was dwarfed by the occasion. Mostly non-existent. But when Silva, City’s best player, created a space for Stones to make a pass to Foden on the edge of the box, he instinctively banged it in the top corner. Sixty-six minutes gone and there looked like City’s retention of the ball and overall superiority was going to pay off.

Five minutes later, City went ahead.  Gvardiol took a heavy touch from Grealish’s pass. The ball seemed to get away from him, but he hit in the top corner. It was a game of great goals.

Júnior’s cross looked like one of those floppy crazy things player hang up when they have ran out of ideas. Federico Valverde, who never scores goals, caught is sweet and smashed it into the bottom corner from the edge of the box as if he’d been practicing that move all night and this was the time to show it off.

3—3 with almost ten minutes to go.

Toni Kroos had been substituted for Luka Modrić. The German is touted as one of the best in the world. He did nothing of note.

Let’s talk about Luka Modrić. Phil Foden went off with an injury, but if he wants to play as the highest level he needs to do a Luka. We gave him a standing ovation when Madrid beat us at Parkhead. The little man created a goal and scored another. In this game he helped turn the tide. Shouting and gesturing. Give me the ball. You could see him pointing. There’s talk of him retired or being retired at the end of this season. Celtic should offer him a ten- year contract. We’ve had nothing like him since losing Ľubomír Moravčík. Martin O’Neil once famously said when we were being outnumbered and outgunned in a European tie, ‘give the ball to Lubo’.

Give the ball to Luka and good things will happen. Phil Foden, Jude Bellingham, Vinícius Júnior, Erling Haaland, were pedestrian. Luka caught the eye. This man cannot retire at the end of the season. Nothing much has been decided in the tie. They go head to head next week. City should win. But you never know with Luka in the ranks. This is what a great in the game looks like.

https://amzn.to/48khBJ5

Scotland 1—3 England

Scotland are the team of glorious failure, epitomised by Archie Gemmill’s glorious goal against the Dutch in the World Cup in 1978.  

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=archie+gemmill+goal&iax=videos&ia=videos&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dq8K9MpSJ40U

We were on the march with Ally’s army. England hadn’t qualified for either the 1974 or 1978 World Cups. These were the years when we were a match for England. Now it’s one-way traffic. England are better than us. We don’t so much worry that they’ll beat us, but that they’ll win something like the European Championship, or god help us the World Cup. They’ve got the players for it. That’s the worry.

Much was made of booing the National Anthem. I don’t really give a fuck. Lest we forget, bananas being thrown at England players by their own supporters. Death threats to England players that missed penalties and happened to be black. Scotland fans jeering the names of Celtic players when they were announced in the Scotland team were a hallmark of the team of sixties and seventies. Before that they just weren’t in the team.  

As a footballing match, like the Old Firm game, a few weeks ago, it wasn’t much of a game. For the diddy team to win (Scotland) we know the rules. Steve Clarke the Scotland manager also knows the rules. He used them to great effect at Kilmarnock. Go long. Scrap and fight. Your keeper has got to play a blinder. And most of all, you’ve got to ride your luck.

Harry Kane’s toe is worth more than Ryan Porteous, whose transfer free was around £300 000 and it showed.  Jack Henry, who was equally unconvincing in central defence, cost less than Declan Rice’s hair-do. Kane scored at Hampden again, with eight minutes to go, to ensure Scotland’s hopes of snatching a draw, they didn’t deserve wouldn’t happen.

For most of the game England dominated. They scored two first-half goals within four minutes of each other, with a lot of help from Scotland’s captain, Andy Robinson, which just about say it all. Phil Foden, who was too good and too quick for us, scored the first in 31 minutes. Foden, Bellingham, Rashford, Walker. Foden’s goal might have looked like a deflection, but look again and weep. It was all too quick for the Scottish defence to get their feet right and their mind around.  Jude Bellingham, who was the best player on the pitch, scored the other and set the third up for Harry Kane. I know Bellingham is a Real Madrid superstar, but a punter told me today he was at Rangers Academy when he was a kid. I can’t quite believe that. He’s twenty now. A big kid.  At twelve he’d have been in Ibrox first-team.

Apart from Robertson’s failure to do the basics, clear the ball, and give it to the best player on the park, there was another comic element to the game. Harry McGuire briefly brought Scotland back into the game, after half-time, with an own goal. The last time I heard anything like that was when Celtic were three or four up against Rangers and started cheering the Rangers’ players in a derogatory way when they made a successful pass.

For the diddy team to win, they must ride their luck. John McGinn should have equalised shortly afterwards. For once Lewis Dunk was posted missing. He played the game exactly how I want Celtic’s defenders to play. Imperious in the air. Good on the deck. We’ve not had that since van Dijk. But for once, a ball came off McGinn’s shoulder and went past the post. We could have been on the march with Steve Clarke’s army.

Scotland were waiting for a result in the game with Georgia needing to draw with Norway for qualification for the World Cup to happen. Norway won. But we’ve got 15 points out of 15. Even by limits of glorious failure we can’t be that much of a glorious failure. In the 150^th Anniversary Match, England absolutely humped Scotland. The gulf in class was as evident as Aston Villa’s humiliation of Hibs. No great lessons to be learned. We get the usual bile of England until I die from Rangers fans that also happen to be Scottish. Nothing new to report. Booing the National Anthem makes you an SNP supporter. Aye right, Ally, I am an SNP voter. I voted for Brexit with England not Europe and would do so again in a heartbeat.  I’ve not got anything much against the English. I just hate Tory scum and the direction Tory politicians take Britain. It’s not my King. I’m proud they sent troops to George Square after the First World War because Churchill thought there would be a Socialist revolution. Move on.