A day of notable European action for the Hoops

Today’s Celtic on this Day story highlights how Jock Stein’s team began their journey to Lisbon.

On September 28, 1966, Celtic defeated Zurich 2-0. The Hoops easily defeated the Swiss in the first round of what would be Celtic’s most historic and successful season. Zurich were managed by Hungarian Lsazlo Kubala, who played international football for three different nations during his career. The rival players thought Celtic’s players were overly aggressive and tough. Gemmell and McBride scored in rapid succession. Celtic would go on to win the return leg 3-0, comfortably defeating Zurich.

Celtic won the European Cup Winners Cup by 4-0 over Georgian underdogs Dinamo Batumi 29 years ago. Despite winning by four goals and 7-2 on aggregate, Celtic manager Tommy Burns criticised his team’s second-half performance, saying, “We really let ourselves down in the second half.” We were sloppy and appeared content to be two or three goals ahead. I had to emphasise to the players after the game that this type of behaviour must not occur again.” Andreas Thom scored twice, Simon Donnelly scored once, and Andy Walker made up for a missed penalty with a late strike into the bottom left corner.

HJK Helsinki of Finland defeated Celtic 2-1 24 years ago today. Despite losing the game, Celtic advanced to the UEFA Cup second round on away goals thanks to a 117th-minute lunging finish by Chris Sutton. The turf was in terrible shape on the night due of a Tina Turner performance held at the stadium a few weeks prior to the game. However, Sutton got Celtic out of jail and sent the travelling supporters home happy.

On September 28, 2002, Celtic defeated Kilmarnock 5-0. Celtic secured a comfortable victory over Jim Jeffries’ Killie team. The game depicted the O’Neill era. Larsson scored three goals, while Sutton added two.

On September 28, 2016, Celtic drew 3-3 against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City. City entered the game overconfident, having had a flawless start to the season. Brendan Rodgers’ side only picked up one point at home in that difficult Champions League group. Moussa Dembele ignited the explosive Celtic Park atmosphere with a quickfire start. The English team recovered three times during the match to earn a draw in Glasgow’s East End. Tierney scored the second, and Demeble’s overhead kick shortly after the restart made it 3-2. The Hoops were unable to hold on. Nonetheless, it was another unforgettable European contest at Celtic Park.

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