Celtic Humble The Mighty Real Madrid

67,000 fans packed into Celtic Park one evening in March 1980 to watch Celtic humble the mighty Real Madrid in the Quarter Finals of the European Cup.

In a breathtaking first half Madrid dominated with Laurie Cunningham and Santillana testing Celtic keeper Peter Latchford on several occasions. It seemed inevitable that the team from Spain would score that all-important away goal.

Thankfully for Celtic fans, the second half was a different story however, Celtic would come out with renewed aggression cheered on by their fanatical supporters.

Celtic Triumphant

Celtic would score twice through McClusky and Doyle. Still, the margin of victory would have been greater but for a controversial decision to disallow a goal from Tom McAdam.

Despite this, the 2-0 result sent shockwaves through European football. Yes, Europe was shocked to see Celtic humble the mighty Real Madrid. Suddenly overnight the young Celtic players were becoming hot property. The tie was all set for a thrilling second leg two weeks later in Madrid.

Only the 67,000 people in the stadium would see the victory take place live.

Celtic had turned down offers from TV companies to show the game as it took place in fear that it would be unfair to those fans who had purchased tickets. A decision the Financial Manager at the club must have been amazed and disappointed with.

Celtic Despondent

The away leg didn’t go as planned and the disallowed goal from McAdam in the first leg proved costly. Madrid fought back to win the second leg 3-0 in front of 110,000 fans in the Bernabeau.

The fans who had watched Celtic humble Real Madrid in the first leg were crestfallen. From being on cloud nine following the home win they were bought back to earth with a bump. Madrid has shown their class when it had mattered the most and Celtic had no answers.

Celtic’s 1980 European adventure had come to an end.

Real Madrid’s good fortunes would run out in the semi-final. Losing 5-3 over the two legs to SV Hamburg from Germany.