It was the Last time we were in the Champions league / European cup semi final a couple of years after losing on penalties to inter at the same stage within 3 years we had a very poor team and though we got to quarter final in 1980 that was the only time we got past Christmas in Europe in 25 years . That night we got cheated by Madrid changed the direction of our club !!!!!!!!!!!
Celtic great Dixie Deans: It's 40 years since Atletico Madrid shame game and I still hope they lose every time I watch them FORTY years on from the Game That Died Of Shame, Dixie Deans can’t bring himself to wish Atletico Madrid anything but bad luck whenever they play. The only problem is, having watched the Spanish side remove Barcelona from the Champions League, the former Celtic striker thinks Atletico might be the shock winners of the competition. But old habits die hard and yesterday’s 40th anniversary of the night Celtic Park was turned into a war zone has done nothing to reduce Deans’ contempt for the way a European Cup semi-final was turned into a mass brawl. Jock Stein’s side, with Dixie up front, were brutalised by a visiting side who had three players sent off.They queued up to inflict punishment on Jimmy Johnstone in particular. Deans said: “Atletico would have been thrown out of the Champions League, never mind being fancied to win it, if their antics of 40 years ago had been repeated in the modern day. “You can’t help yourself if you lived through that match. I was watching the game with Barcelona the other night thinking to myself, ‘I hope these b*****s lose’. But I must say they played well, and you have to admire the result they pulled off.” Deans would never have heard himself say those words on the night a punishing 90 minutes ended goalless in 1974. He said: “They had three players sent off for violent conduct and received a total of seven yellow cards. But I felt myself losing the plot in retaliation from time to time. “I seem to remember Davie Hay and me finishing up scrapping in the tunnel at time-up with one of their players, Ruben Ayala.” Deans had actually been subbed 20 minutes from time and found himself in another fight up the tunnel with an Atletico official after coming out of the bath. Ayala was still in the mood for a ruck in spite of the fact he’d been sent off. He added: “There was a lot of frustration because no one could understand why Atletico would want to come to Celtic Park and conduct themselves the way they did. “The most galling thing was that, even though they were down to 10 men, we still couldn’t stick the ball in the net.” UEFA were so happy to see the referee, Turk Dogan Babacan, take stern action against Atletico they sent him a letter of commendation afterwards. Deans said: “Those were less sophisticated days then, so you didn’t know as much about foreign teams as you would do now. “They had a big South American influence, Ayala included, and that produced fiery consequences. “Davie and me slapped him about a bit but just to keep him awake at that time of night.” Celtic’s nightmare continued in the return leg in Madrid as Jinky received death threats. Deans added: “We only went there to protect our club’s good name. There was no way we were going to walk off that pitch having won the return leg, and the Celtic players knew that before a ball was kicked. “We were confined to the hotel for three days and only allowed out for training. “Fans would gather in their hundreds outside the hotel in the early hours of the morning to make noise and put us off our sleep.” Celtic lost 2-0 in Spain and Atletico went on to face Bayern Munich in a European Cup Final they were 60 seconds from winning before the Germans scored and forced a replay that Bayern won 4-0. A repeat of that final could be on if the clubs avoid each other in today’s semi-final draw. And Deans would take Spain to triumph over Germany if that happened in Lisbon next month. He said: “I don’t know why but I’ve had a sneaky feeling for Atletico. I’m not even a big fan of La Liga. I prefer the English Premier League. “The irony is the South American influence is still there, with the Argentine Diego Simeone their coach. But his approach is a million miles removed from his countrymen of four decades ago.“I’ll never forget the pre-meditated, waist-high intimidatory tactics that went on that night. It was woeful and a sign of the times. But times have changed, I’m glad to say.
This is the equivalent of Eyal Berkovic knocking on John Hartson's door with a drone... Let go of the hate
Did Hartson cheat Berkovic out of a European Cup Final? I hope Atletico are cursed forever more for the shame their antics brought to Football.
