Conquering Atlético Madrid

When I was growing up Celtic weren't the trophy winning Goliath they had once been in the past or would be in the future. It was very much normal that Rangers would win everything, be on TV midweek against far flung names and be the big team in Scotland. It was the mid-nineties and things were bleak for the green half of Glasgow. As I grew older I began to understand that in this period Celtic fans were just happy to have a club that existed. Even when it looked likely that I'd get to strut around the playground gloating after going to my first cup final vs. Raith Rovers my favourite player, Paul McStay, missed a penalty to send the dark blue Fifers into a heavy opposite stand roar that I'll never forget.

Of course, I wasn't a hard done by little guy. The glories of the past were so great and so majestic that I steeped myself in that instead. I would watch old Celtic videos of sweeping victories, clever goals, two-arms-in-the-air manic celebrations, 'CELTIC O.K.' banners and a guy lifting a big, hulking silver trophy. It was this sense of mystical history along with the voices of my brother, my father, cousins, uncles and Granda that bonded me to the club more than anything that was going on in the Celtic team of the time. I watched all the videos kicking about the house I could find, usually in the wrong box and even some with Hugh Keevins of all people presenting. There are two images that I remember being fascinated by, utterly transfixed, replaying them in my head and on the VHS machine. One was the celebration of the players and fans who had just won the European Cup and the other was a wee guy, Jimmy Johnstone, jinking past players, pushing to the byline and being scythed down brutally and unfairly by a defender in a red shirt and blue shorts.

I now know and understand better who that team were and under what circumstances this challenge happened. In 1974, Celtic were a massive force at home and on the continent having won the European Cup, reaching another final and a semi-final in the previous seven years. The notorious Juan Carlos Lorenzo brought his Atlético Madrid team to Celtic Park on the 10th of April in the first leg of the European Cup Semi-Final. England World Cup winning manager Alf Ramsay once denounced Lorenzo's Argentina squad of 1966 as 'animals' and anyone who was at the game that night or has since seen snippets will understand where he was coming from. The Madrid team, chock full of Spaniards and Argentinians, set out to bring the hotly tipped favourites Celtic down, with brutality and violence, not football. They succeeded in escaping Celtic Park with a 0-0 draw despite having three men sent off. Jimmy Johnstone was black and blue from the waist down. Winning the second leg 1-0, they dumped the Celts out of the competition to go through to the final. The tie is now part of Celtic and Scottish football folklore.

This week, Billy McNeill, the legendary captain of the Celtic team that Spring night re-opened these old wounds by labelling Atlético Madrid as 'scum' in a newspaper column. It didn't take long for these sentiments to find their way to Spain. The Madrid defender Filipe Luis stated; "I read what their former captain said. In fact we all did because we have talked a lot about it and I don't think it was a very nice thing to say. That's his opinion but this was a long time ago. We are only talking about the game this week, not what happened all those years ago. He has called our club scum and that motivates me and the players. We don't want any violence, we are not like that. We are just going out to play football like we normally do. We know Celtic will be a tough game but we think we are a better team." And boy are they a better team. In fact, on paper, it could barely be a worse time for a Celtic team to try and enact revenge on Madrid. This Summer the Spaniards spent at least £55m on new players. Celtic spent £3m. It's just as well football isn't played on paper. Have no doubt about it, Celtic have a fighting chance of taking something in Estadio Vicente Calderón this Thursday. 

In the Europa League 2010-11 the Spanish side lost to Aris Thessaloniki at home and drew with Bayer Leverkusen at home, exiting the competition in the group stages. It was arguably a stronger Madrid team as they recently lost three of their best players in Diego Forlan, Sergio Aguero and David De Gea to English and Italian teams. The players they have brought in however do not seem like average replacements for the superstars they lost. Falcao, the Europa League's highest scorer last season for winners Porto, signed for the club in a £35m deal. Other experienced, high class internationals have followed such as Diego from Wolfsburg, Arda Turan from Galatasaray and Miranda from Sao Paulo. Because of this though, they are a team in transition, also changing managers by bringing back previous coach Gregorio Manzano after a disappointing season under Quique Sanchez Flores. They've yet to hit their stride in La Liga, taking only one point from their first two games. All the pressure is on Madrid to put in a performance and Falcao himself highlighted a complacency when he said in an interview this weekend; "We play Celtic next and that gives us a chance to get some goals and get some confidence."

After this talk of a positive result on Thursday don't get me wrong, it's obviously a tough task for this Celtic side to do anything. However with the right team selection, the right tactics and with belief, concentration and unity I firmly believe a new Celtic folklore can be written. The squad is riding high again after their surprise re-entry into the competition and go to Spain with absolutely nothing to lose. At the weekend they displayed a renewed confidence and swagger. After overcoming high flying Motherwell so easily, they will be eager to prove themselves at a higher level.  As much as the fans are keeping an eye on the past and thinking of revenge, the team should not and will not be focused on events in 1974. We've spent too long as a club recounting past glories and it's time for this young, ambitious squad to become heroes to a new generation so that the little boys don't have to go onto Youtube and watch Henrik Larsson chipping Klos or Chalmers putting one past Inter Milan to feel proud about the club. For me though, this one's for Jinky's legs.