Celtic duo Anthony Ralston and Kieran Tierney featured as Scotland boosted their World Cup qualifying hopes by beating Greece on Thursday evening.
This was a huge match for Steve Clarke’s side, but by the hour mark, Greece were leading 1-0 at Hampden, and Scotland’s abject opening hour performance just got worse.
But then, out of nothing, former Celtic star Ryan Christie levelled the scores, and somehow, by the full-time whistle, Scotland had secured a crucial three points to sit second in Group C.
That win by Scotland, the stats to go with it, and the difference between both teams drew an interesting comparison, including with one of Celtic’s most famous nights in the Champions League under Neil Lennon.
Scotland’s win over Greece compared to Celtic beating Barcelona in the Champions League
Ask any Celtic fan, what’s one of their best memories since the turn of the century, and many will point towards that night against Barcelona in the Champions League in 2012.
This was the all-dominant Barcelona. With some of the greatest-ever players on show, suffering under the Celtic Park lights, and losing 2-1 to the might of Scotland’s finest.
Speaking on talkSPORT, David Tanner proceeded to use that famous night and compare it with Scotland beating Greece – and the on-field gulf between both sides not matching the result.
“I felt like phoning Police Scotland, to report that I and 46,000 others had witnessed a mugging,” said Tanner. “It was among the worst Scotland performances of Steve Clarke’s 71 games in charge.
“He’s equalled Craig Brown’s record for being the longest-serving manager. And after an hour, I have to tell you he was really struggling as though he might make it 72 games and break the new record at the weekend. It was that bad.
“It was 33% possession for Scotland, and they won 3-1. I’ve never known anything like that.
“I think the closest was when Neil Lennon’s Celtic beat Barcelona. Young Tony Watt got a late goal in that game. They were in similar numbers, but to win 3-1, after playing so badly for an hour, is astonishing.”
The stats compared
Scotland can qualify for the World Cup next summer, and it still won’t go close to what Celtic produced on that famous night at Parkhead.
It’s just a shame that Celtic don’t have more of those Barcelona-like games in them, because it’s a reason why they are now playing in the Europa League.
Either way, this is how the stats from both of those matches compared:
- Celtic 27%-73% Barcelona
- Passes attempted: 303-999
- Passes completed: 134-865
- Attempts on target: 4-14
- Attempts off target: 1-10
- Corners taken: 2-7
- Scotland 33%-66.7% Greece
- Total passes: 295-608
- Attempts on target: 3-3
- Attempts off target: 5-12
- Corners taken: 4-4
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