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Intrepid Celtic set template for how to defy Pep’s Man City

Celtic bounced back from their drubbing in Barcelona to record an impressive point against Manchester City in an enthralling 3-3 encounter on Wednesday.

Avoiding defeat against a side who had won every prior fixture so far this season since the arrival of Pep Guardiola is one thing. Taking the lead three times is another. Doing so in a manner which didn’t require lucky heather or tin hats was the real eyebrow-raiser.

Celtic went straight onto the front foot at Parkhead, with Scott Brown and Nir Britton taking no prisoners in the middle of the park and leaving players the calibre of Fernandinho and Ilkay Gundogan overwhelmed and short of any real space to get things going for the visitors.

In front of them were Tom Rogic, James Forrest and former City flop Scott Sinclair, enabled by their midfield enforcers to enjoy large periods of possession, take on defenders and create space for the overlapping runs of Mikael Lustig and Kieran Tierney. And whenever striker Moussa Dembele received service, he looked ready to score - twice, he did.

It was reminiscent of the take-no-prisoners approach Brendan Rodgers adopted at Liverpool - almost all the way to the Premier League title a few years ago. And it also featured several tactical components which have shown up Guardiola sides in the past.

For all the technical nuance and flair of a Pep side, there always appears to be an element of entitlement. As we’ve seen time and time again in England with Arsene Wenger, ‘philosopher’ coaches will play a certain way and can sometimes expect their ‘beautiful’ vision of football to be enough.

However, football isn’t won by attaining top scores from judges. Style or not, you have to defeat the side sharing the pitch with you on the night, and a fair few of them have defeated Pep Guardiola simply by having little or no regard for his skills, his reputation or what his megabucks players are capable of.

That fit right into the style of Rodgers, who developed a reputation of either winning or losing with an almighty scrap. Whether a spectacular win, a humiliating loss or a result which was far too open for the fans’ liking, Rodgers tends to have his men leave it all out there which tends to be a bit of a kryptonite for Pep.

Also, by having Brown and Britton safeguard Kolo Toure and Eric Sviatchenko at the back, Celtic could afford to go all-out a little more than your average City opponent without as much backfire and really put their biggest weakspot - the back four - to the test. Sure, they conceded three times but pre-game experts would have seen that as reasonable damage control. Especially since none of those pundits predicted that the hosts would also bag three.

Recent history has taught us that all of the above isn’t likely to lead to Celtic shocking their extremely tough group and making it through to the last-16. Rodgers’ cons will likely always be there with his pros and they really should be looking at stifling a very good Monchengladbach side twice and snaring that Europa League spot.

What Wednesday night in Glasgow did accomplish, however, was a sterling example of how the top sides in the Prem can stop Guardiola from running away with his maiden English league title.

The fearlessness Celtic displayed, coupled with a stronger defence and perhaps the extra squad depth and match fitness (the Bhoys flagged in the second half before catching an admirable second wind for the conclusion) could stick it to the man who sometimes appears to expect opponents to stand in awe at what his teams can do. A strong core of goalkeeper, centre-backs and central midfielders could free the rest of the side to really expose City at the back - perhaps this time without shipping as many as they score.

Above all else, Celtic underscored exactly what the hectic schedule will start to do to City as the weeks progress. Guardiola swatted away a question about trying to win every trophy a few weeks ago. But of course, they’re in it to win it. And more games will create more opportunities to catch their rotating ranks out with a breathless blitzkrieg, much in the same way Rodgers had his Hoops begin both halves.

City remain undefeated competitively under Pep, but the template has been set. Now let’s see who will be the first to take it all the way to a high-profile scalp.