Marshall took his place in goal in place of the suspended Robert Douglas and the 19-year-old did not have much time to settle. Within the first minute, Ronaldinho sent Gerard clear but the goalkeeper managed to get his hand to the ball as the midfielder attempted to round him. Celtic looked nervous in the opening minutes and Marshall had to be on his toes again to block a Gerard header after another Ronaldinho ball into the area. Barcelona came close again from their first corner after 13 minutes when a close-in shot from Luis Enrique brought an instinctive save from Marshall.
Celtic lost skipper Jackie McNamara through injury six minutes into the second half and Manchester United-bound Liam Miller took his place. Barcelona continued to set the pace and Luis Garcia curled a shot just a foot wide from the edge of the penalty box with half-an-hour left. Larsson had Celtic's first shot on target in the 62nd minute after great work from Stilian Petrov but the Swede directed his effort directly at Valdes. Marshall came to Celtic's rescue again when he blocked Ronaldinho's angled shot after the Brazilian had waltzed past four defenders. But the young goalkeeper excelled himself when he tipped a Luis Garcia shot over the top with a world-class save when it finally seemed certain Barcelona would take the lead. Marshall produced another incredible save to deny substitute Sergio with 15 minutes left. Despite the pressure on their goal as the minutes ticked away Celtic held on for a memorable result. Barcelona: Valdes, Reiziger, Puyol, Oleguer, Xavi, Cocu, Gerard, Gabri, Luis Enrique, Ronaldinho, Luis Garcia Subs: Rustu, Marquez, Overmars, Quaresma, Iniesta, Oscar Lopez, Sergio Celtic: Marshall, Kennedy, McNamara, Varga, Agathe, Lennon, Pearson, Petrov, Thompson, Larsson, Sutton Subs: McGovern, Sylla, Lambert, Mjallby, Beattie, Smith, Miller Referee: Domenico Messina (Italy) | |||||
Editorial Team Ger Harley (ger@scottishfitba.net) |
