MALMO GOALKEEPR JOHAN Wiland has launched an extraordinary attack on Celtic, accusing them of acting like ‘pigs’ and ‘children’ during last night’s Champions League play-off first leg.
The Scottish Premier League champions won the game 3-2 but their hopes of reaching the lucrative group stages were dealt a blow by Jo Inge Berget’s injury-time goal in Glasgow.
Malmo will be confident of overturning the deficit next Tuesday when the sides meet for the return leg but Wiland, who conceded twice inside the opening 10 minutes on Wednesday, was far from impressed by Celtic’s tactics.
“They are pigs, all of them, that’s the way it is,” Wiland told Swedish newspaper Kvallsposten after the game. “You just have to try to stay cool and do what we have to do on the pitch. Leigh Griffiths, well, I don’t know what to say, he behaved like a child, tugging shirts all the time.”
Griffiths scored twice at Park Head to give Ronny Delia’s side a commanding lead, although Inge Berget’s goal has tipped the balance back in the opposite direction.
Wiland singled Griffiths out but he wasn’t the only one to speak publicly about Celtic’s approach. Defender Rasmus Bengtsson joined in too.
“There were some players who talked a lot. You probably know who I mean,” he said.
“They have a captain (Scott Brown) and a few others who like to talk. But that’s the way it is at this level.
“One player who came on (Nadir Ciftci) was not particularly nice. The first thing he wanted to do when he came on was to talk. He had more focus on that than his performance.
“And I don’t think it was to their advantage that they were running around focusing on other things.”
Next week could be a little juicy.
