It’s fair to say that after Celtic overcame Ferencvaros just under a fortnight ago, the Hungarians were struggling to agree on how the game panned out.
Whilst their goalkeeper Denes Dibusz believed they largely had control of the 2-0 defeat against Celtic, their manager Peter Stoger didn’t let them off the hook. They were beaten and beaten well as the Hoops pushed Ferencvaros to the brink of facing no European football after Christmas.
The defeat for our UEL rivals came immediately after another shock league loss to Zalaegerszegi. However, it appears they’ve bounced back well since then. Another 2 dropped points in the league to MTK Budapest was then followed by a 7-0 rout of Tokol and a 2-0 success against Gyirmot respectively. 3 clean sheets racked up and 9 goals in their last two games. Formidable stuff.
And it appears as though manager Stoger has noticed a different attitude in training in recent days as he spoke after their latest game against Gyirmot. As quoted by Nemzeti Sport, Stoger said the following:
“This victory was very important for self-confidence. In this case, the team’s mood in the training is different, we can play more freely. We know that the meeting against Celtic is the last chance to play international matches in the spring as well.
“It took the team’s confidence. It wasn’t an easy match because the opponent analyzed our recent encounters well. They defended deeply, and that defense was not easy for us to breakthrough. Our possession of the ball was good in the first half, but we could have created more situations.
“I asked for more of that in the second half. I also wanted to see more situations, more passes from the edges and our full-backs. Overall, I am happy to win.”
Ferencvaros feeling good about life again as Celtic prepare to visit
In fairness, Ferencvaros were looking formidable before the previous round of fixtures at Celtic Park. In 19 competitive games they had scored 46 goals and top of the Hungarian First Division. They’d also netted 19 goals in 10 European games heading into the Parkhead encounter.
Fair to say then they were massively disappointing when they showed a real toothlessness to their play in the final third. Prolific striker Ryan Mmaee was bossed by the Hoops backline whilst Kyogo tore the Ferencvaros defence inside out.
Not to mention Celtic dominated the engine room for the most part. There was a confidence to our play and it led to a dominance of proceedings on the pitch. The threat Ferencvaros were supposed to pose proved non-existent on the night.
Of course, we all know going away from home will prove to be a tougher task. But even so, they’ve been anything but scintillating at the Groupama Stadium this term. They’ve played 11 competitive games there this season and only come out on top in 6 of them. 4 have ended in defeat.
I know, the biggest threat to us on Thursday night is complacency. It’s important we don’t get ahead of ourselves or make out as though this is a straightforward task. Ferencvaros still have the ability to cause a European shock and they’ve been making their name by doing just that. They’ll be going all out to bite back at Celtic this week.
Let’s see how we respond to the challenge. After yesterday’s 0-0 stalemate vs Livingston, there’s a demand on the Hoops to get the job done.
In other news, Celtic supporters point out the James Forrest effect after winger’s return vs Livingston
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
