Celtic's incredible possession stats that show Angeball is bursting with life

In one respect, Celtic as Ange Postecoglou envisages his team has already been brought fully into existence by the Australian.
ALKMAAR, NETHERLANDS - AUGUST 26: AZ's Fredrik Midtsjo (left) tackles Celtic's Liel Abada during a Europa League Qualifier between AZ Alkmaar and Celtic at AFAS Stadium on August 26, 2021, in Alkmaar, Netherlands (Photo by Rico Brouwer / SNS Group)
ALKMAAR, NETHERLANDS - AUGUST 26: AZ's Fredrik Midtsjo (left) tackles Celtic's Liel Abada during a Europa League Qualifier between AZ Alkmaar and Celtic at AFAS Stadium on August 26, 2021, in Alkmaar, Netherlands (Photo by Rico Brouwer / SNS Group)
ALKMAAR, NETHERLANDS - AUGUST 26: AZ's Fredrik Midtsjo (left) tackles Celtic's Liel Abada during a Europa League Qualifier between AZ Alkmaar and Celtic at AFAS Stadium on August 26, 2021, in Alkmaar, Netherlands (Photo by Rico Brouwer / SNS Group)

The Europa League encounter away to Bayer Leverkusen on Thursday will mark Celtic’s 27th game of the season. Incredibly, only once have Celtic failed to have the majority of the possession in the previous 26 matches under Postecoglou. There is much to the alchemy the 56-year-old is determined to conduct at Celtic with his high-intensity brand of attacking football. But a comment he made ahead of the club facing AZ Alkmaar in their Europa League play-off allows this to be distilled down to two elements.

When it was put to him that Scottish clubs had only posted landmark wins in Europe in recent times through essentially sitting in – as evidenced by Celtic having only 16.4% possession when defeating Barcelona in 2012 – his response was unequivocal. “I’d rather play Barcelona and out-possess them and out-score them than not,” he said. “If you [look to] do that and you lose five-zero, people will be coming for you saying ‘why didn’t you play more pragmatically’. It’s just not the way I’m wired, and what I look for. I’d rather go down swinging then, than hope to just stay on my feet.”

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It is a quirk the Netherlands late-August return leg of Celtic’s play-off success against Alkmaar, when they edged through 3-2 on aggregate after a 2-1 loss, is the only game under him in which Celtic haven’t dominated the ball... and just stayed on their feet. Unquestionably, it is also the continental arena in which his ability to impose his philosophy has resulted in the unexpected. Domestically, Celtic’s myriad advantages ensure they practically always have the lion’s share of the ball. However, they haven’t been able to translate this into cross-border competition as has been witnessed in this campaign – with decidedly mixed results, it should be noted.

In nine of 10 European games they have seen more of the ball than their opponents, a run without parallel since possession stats were first detailed. Even so, that they contrived to lose 4-0 at home to the Germans they are facing on Thursday is a head-scratcher, when they had 55% possession and as many goal attempts, 18. Even more exasperating for them was posting 60% possession in Seville and still going down 4-3 to Real Betis. Yet, the ability to go toe-to-toe with top level teams, in so far as getting on the ball and retaining it, will be viewed by Postecoglou as a significant building block for what he wants to build at Celtic.

Equally, he doesn’t need to dig deep to appreciate possession in itself doesn’t win matches. Celtic had 80% possession in losing 1-0 at Livingston, and 86% when the West Lothian side held them to a goalless draw in Glasgow. Only once has a Scottish team succeeded in merely reaching 40% possession against them, which came in their 3-1 win away to Hibs last month,. However, with three defeats and two draws in their 13 league encounters, as well as the losses against Leverkusen and Betis, Postecoglou’s self-confessed football “purism” can’t allow him to set aside the game maxim that states it isn’t simply having the ball that counts, but what you do with it.

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