Happened to mention a work colleague that I hoped Atletico don't make it to the final and he asked why, for those who are too young to remember... Twenty Nine years after Celtic's last appearance in a European semi-final, Manfred Lurker looks back at the infamous night Atletico - the team that put the 'mad' in Madrid - collected together all the muggers they could find from the dark alleyways of the Spanish capital and sent them over to Parkhead to contest a place in the 1974 Champions Cup final. By the time Celtic embarked on the European Cup campaign if 1973-74 only three of the players who had triumphed in Lisbon six years earlier were still regular members of the team. Billy McNeill was still a stalwart at the heart of the defence while Bobby Lennox and the mercurial Jimmy Johnstone could still hold down a place in the forward line. Nevertheless, big Jock had once again put together a side which looked as if it was on the verge of European greatness. Danny McGrain, Jim Brogan, Davie Hay and Pat McCluskey had all established themselves in the defence. Not only were they tough and uncompromising, they could use their silky skills to trap, control and pass any winger in the country. In midfield Jock could call on George Connelly, Steve Murray and a bloke called Dalglish (whatever became of him?) and in attack, to add to the lightning pace of Lennox and dribbling skill of Johnstone, he had the poaching instincts of Harry Hood and the gumsy grin of Dixie Deans. In the first round of the competition Celtic eased past TPS Turku of Finland, who played like TPS Turkeys and who were gobbled up in a 9:1 aggregate defeat which could easily have ended up 90:1. Danish champions Vejle BK were made of somewhat sterner stuff and managed to earn themselves a 0:0 draw at Parkhead after Celtic turned in what many described as one of our worst European performances ever. By comparison with what was to come during the 80s and 90s it was probably a class show! It was left to Kenny Dalglish to score in Denmark for a 1:0 aggregate victory. The quarter-final produced a cracking match against last year's nemesis, FC Basel. The Swiss won the fist leg in their home stadium by 3:2. They then showed they were no cuckoos by coming back from 0:2 down at Celtic Park to draw level. Tommy Callaghan put Celtic in front again but there were no more goals in a nail-shredding finish. Stevie Murray headed the decisive goal eight minutes into the first period of extra time, which was enough to see the Celts looking forward to their fourth semi-final in eight years. Bayern Munich were drawn to play Ujpest Dosza and so, as fate would have it, Celtic were drawn against Atletico Madrid.At the time not a great deal was known about Atletico. They had been living in the shadow if city rivals Real for years. However, alarm bells started ringing when it was revealed that their coach was the infamous Juan Carlos Lorenzo. He had been in charge of the Argentinian national squad at the 1966 World Cup who had been branded 'animals' by Alf Ramsey after their quarter-final match against England at Wembley. Atletico's arrival in Glasgow for the first leg of the European Cup tie did little to dispel growing unease that we were in for a similar kind Donnybrook. The Madrid players had been limbering up for the Wednesday night's game by kicking the seven shades of **** out of each other during a training session. Things got so out of hand that two of their Argentinian contingent had a square go in the middle of the pitch, pictures of which appeared in the Tuesday night's evening paper. In front of 70,000 at Parkhead the teams lined up on Wednesday 10th April 1974 as follows: CELTIC: Connaghan, Hay, Brogan; Murray, McNeill, McCluskey; Johnstone, Hood, Deans, Callaghan, Dalglish. ATLETICO MADRID: Thug; Psycho, Punch; Spit, Hatchet, Bludgeon; Hammer, Thump, Wallop, Gouge, Axe-Murderer The unlikely - and downright unlucky - referee chosen to officiate that evening was a hapless Turkish gentleman by the name of Dogan Babacan. He looked a bit like Arthur Lowe's officious bumbling bank manager character, Mr. Mainwaring, from Dad's Army. He probably felt greatly honoured being entrusted with such a major football spectacle. Little did he know, he stood as much chance of controlling this game as the last referee at the Rome final of 46 BC, Christians FC versus Lions United.The first name was in Mr. Babacan's notebook after only seven minutes following a vicious assault on Johnstone. It set the tone for the rest of the evening's football extravaganza. Babacan got a chance to practice more Spanish a minute later. Jinky's bruises from the game against Racing in Montivideo seven years before had just cleared up the previous week when a lump nut by the name of Ruben Diaz - who had actually played in that match - decided to renew his acquaintance with the Celtic winger. It was merely the first of his many assaults that night. With the crowd already worked up into a frenzy at the sight of the atrocities being committed by the Atletico players, Celtic had a goal disallowed after ten minutes. It did little to dampen an atmosphere which had taken a decided turn towards the volatile.Neither did the antics of Atletico Madrid. It became clear very quickly that the remaining eighty minutes of the match was simply going to be replay of the first ten. Name followed name into the ref's notebook, which he was forced to swap at half-time for a 200 page ring-binder. Eventually, having flashed the yellow ten times, he sent off the first Atletico player midway through the second half. By this time Dixie Deans had been substituted and was soaking his bruises in the bath. Hearing the roar of the crowd which greeted the dismissal of the Spanish player and thinking it might be a goal, he decided to get out of the bath to investigate. Wearing nothing but a towel he was met in the corridor by an irate Argentinian - who proceeded to give him a kick on the way past! Meanwhile, back on the pitch things were degenerating quickly. Jinky was being kicked around like a discarded lager can as well as being treated by his opponents like a red-haired punchbag. Dalglish and Hay were also being singled out for special attention. It was all too much for poor Mr. Babacan who must have wished he was somewhere on the Russian Front rather than at Parkhead. By the end of the game Madrid had been reduced to eight players, five of whom, including the 'keeper, had been booked. They had achieved their 0:0 draw but they weren't finished yet. On the way up the tunnel Jimmy Johnstone was brutally assaulted yet again. It was the final provocation for the Celtic players. A punch-up ensued which had to be sorted out by Strathclyde's Finest. Next morning a picture appeared on the back pages of the papers. It featured Jimmy Johnstone semi-naked showing off his bruises. He looked as if he'd been battered for a fortnight with a hammer then given a good rub down with sandpaper.Although the first leg had been shown live on Spanish TV, Atletico quickly got to work after the match with their propaganda campaign. They claimed that they were the victims of a concerted and orchestrated campaign of abuse at the hands of Celtic, the referee and, of all people, the Glasgow Police. They alleged that the Feds had come into their dressing room and beat up their players. It was preposterous, as anyone who has ever had any contact with the Glasgow Police will know. As was the assertion that Celtic had bribed the referee. If only the Spanish people had realised how difficult it was to prize open Desmond White's Biscuit Tin to pay our own players never mind find extra money to give backhanders to the ref. Despite public clamour for Celtic not to play the second leg, the spineless board decided in their infinite wisdom that they risked retribution from FIFA should they fail to fulfil the fixture, so they travelled to Madrid to play out the remainder of the farce.Training for the players in the Spanish capital was carried out under the watchful gaze of heavily armed police, while a death threat to Jimmy Johnstone added to the friendly reception. It was the ideal preparation for such an important match. On April 24th 1974 the Celtic team which took the field for the second leg was: Connaghan; McGrain, Brogan; Hay, McNeill, McCluskey; Johnstone, Murray, Dalglish, Hood, Lennox Celtic duly lost two late goals and the Atletico team, which bore little resemblance to the one which played in Glasgow - due to the fact that the hatchet men had all been restored to their shebeens in the back streets of Marseille - went through to the final in Brussels. What was to be done? Rangers had been banned from Europe a mere two years previous to this following the performance of their lunatic fringe in Barcelona when they won the Cup Winners Cup, events over which the club itself had no control. Atletico had actually sanctioned the atrocities which they passed off in the name of football which themselves could have started a riot. Surely UEFA would have to take drastic action? Not a bit of it. Atletico were fined £14,000 - little more than the average bribe for a match official in those days - and six of their cloggers were banned for a couple of games. Only if Babacan had been forced to abandon the match at Parkhead by sending off another of their players, and God knows he wasn't short of candidates, could the football authorities have been expected to take stronger action. An article in World Soccer provided as good a summary of events as any: What a shame it is a team from Madrid who have to leave the fans with such cruel feelings and agonising memories. Up until the Parkhead first leg fiasco Madrid had always thrown up visions of the legendary Real with di Stefano gliding through the centre, Gento sweeping magnificently down the wing, Puskas and his lethal shooting power, the towering defensive work of Santamaria. One giant, ugly, clumsy foot has trodden these cherished memories well and truly into the dirt. Postscript Atletico went to Brussels to play Bayern and for a while it looked as if they were going to win the trophy. 0:0 at the end of 90 minutes, the Spaniards scored with six minutes of extra time to play. But, mercifully, the Germans scored in the final minute to take the game to a replay, which Bayern won by 4:0. Ten years after the Parkhead fiasco we eventually got our chance for revenge against Atletico, this time in the Cup Winners Cup. However, thanks to another shower of cheating bastards - in this case Rapid Vienna - the match was ordered to be played behind closed doors. We'll have to nurse our wrath for a few more years yet.
Really? Because of 1974? I'd rather they won it, than Bayern with that **** Robben, the English huns Chelsea or Real Money.
I hate Atletico to this day, dirty ****ing animals. I'd rather see Chelski win it and that's saying something.
Dev , agree with you , cheating b*stards dosn't matter it was 1974 same with rapid 84 and Rangers when they were alive they cheated our club .
The day after the game at Parkhead, the back page of the Record just had a picture of Jinky's legs all bruised and swollen. Their fans are arseholes anaw. **** both the Madrid teams.
Happened 14 years before I was born so I can't really bring myself to hate them. I'm indifferent towards them. Same thing happened with Rapid Vienna. Life's too short guys.
Billy McNeill’s description of the 1974 Atletico Madrid side that kicked Celtic out of the European Cup semi-finals as “Scum” has provoked a mixed reaction in Madrid. The official response of the Spanish club has been injured innocence and comments like “We do not understand why they are harping on about a match played 37 years ago. We would rather concentrate on the present.” But one of the players from that towsy first leg match in Glasgow in the 10[SUP]th[/SUP] April 1974 has come out with a more spirited direct response. Panadero Diaz, the giant Argentinean centre half was one of the three Atletico defenders sent off during the game, after a particularly atrocious tackle on Jimmy Johnstone, who as Panadero honestly admits “was leading me a merry dance and driving me mad”. Panadero describes his offence as kicking Jinky in the ribs and accepts he deserved to be sent off. But he defends the overall conduct of his team. “In that era teams played much harder and more physically than they do nowadays” He accepts Atletico were a hard team but emphasised that Celtic were no saints. And as one tough centre half to another he said “McNeil might not have forgotten what we did to them, but we have not forgotten what he did to us.” Panadero made it clear he resented the title of ‘scum’ and claimed that Atletico Madrid of that era were one of the finest teams in the world, on a par with Barcelona and Real Madrid. And in one sense what he says is correct. In the European Cup Final against a Bayern Munich side, containing world class stars like Beckenbauer, Brietner, Hoeness, Maier and Muller, Atletico were one minute away from winning the European Cup. And in Bayern’s absence they represented Europe in the Intercontinental Trophy beating Copa Libertadores champions Independiente over two legs to be crowned as “World Club Champions” So how justified is Billy McNeil’s use of the strong phrase “scum”. I am aware that few if any Celtic supporters under the age of 50 will have any direct memory of that torrid encounter from 37 years ago but there must be still many of the 70,000 plus spectators other than myself who have vivid memories of an unforgettable evening. 2 years previously Celtic had lost at the same semi-final stage to Inter Milan, on penalty kicks and most of the enormous crowd were confident that this time, against Atletico they would go a stage further and reach their third European Cup Final. As I took my place in the jungle, I knew Atletico would be no push-overs. I also knew that the Atletico Manager Juan Carlos Lorenzo, El Toto, was a ferociously competitive Argentinean, the manager from the 1966 World Cup team that had been called ‘animals’ by Alf Ramsey, and that he was famous for using psychological pressures on his players to ensure they stayed winners, at any cost. 37 years on Panadero Diaz describes Lorenzo as “a monster” and remembers Lorenzo telling him well before the game to let his beard grow long and to show his teeth, the better to frighten the Celtic players. Even so, along with the rest of the capacity Celtic Park crowd I was amazed at the degree of ferocity unleashed by Atletico throughout the 90 minutes. I have never before or since seen such sustained brutality practised by a whole team for a whole game. The Turkish referee booked 7 of the Atletico players and sent 3 of them off, including Panadero Diaz. All for tackles that would have been criminal assault in any other context. The Celtic players were not physically intimidated and while they responded physically they did not lose the place. But incredibly it was their rhythm and concentration rather than Atletico’s that suffered most from the constant stoppages, and even the ever increasing numerical superriority could not be turned to their advantage. The game ended goal-less, the restrained Celtic crowd booed the Atletico team off the pitch, and mayhem broke out in the tunnel as a score or two was settled, reputedly with the help of the Glasgow police. Thanks to the wonders of You Tube the worst highlights can be seen by googling Celtic v Atletico Madrid 1974 so if you weren’t there, take a look and marvel. Three of the tackles on Jimmy Johnstone will horrify any sensitive soul, and remind everyone that the wee man was not only highly skilled but extremely brave, to carry on taking such abuse without ceasing to run at them. While universal outrage at the degree of cynical violence practiced by Atletico swept the whole continent, UEFA took no other action bar banning the three players sent off from the second leg and fining Atletico a derisory amount. Some people urged Celtic to pull out of the second leg but I think the decision to play was the right one, even if the outcome was a tame defeat.
Celtic should have kicked **** out of them back. It wasn't wee pansies we had playing for us back then. You can't go around holding grudges against teams for decades just because they beat you. If Athletico never wanted a football match we shouldn't have tried to give them one.
Didn't a polis end up lamping one of them when he went for Stein in the tunnel or something? I'm pretty sure that the team they fielded at Parkhead had something like 7 Argentinians and was completely different from the team the round before and in the Vicente Calderon.
For me, there's far more to dislike in today's world about the other 3 teams that are in the semi-finals than there is about Atletico, especially given that the main reason for not wanting them to win on here is that they booted Celtic about a pitch almost 40 years ago. Always good to see an underdog win, and if it stops one of the usual lot winning it then that's a good thing, to me at least.
Griping auld ****s. Glad Barca got pumped out, they've been the ones acting scummy in recent years. Holding grudges over a fitba' match from 40 years ago is petty as **** anaw.
Isn't Atletico's major source of funding a despotic Azerbaijani dictator? I'm struggling to see how there's more to dislike about Bayern.
They attacked Jinky in the tunnel and the whole Celtic team set about the ****ing ****s, and they did use reserve players at Parkhead, mostly Argies who were there for one reason only to kick Celtic off the park.
