Surprisingly, with so many new players under a new manager, Celtic’s early season form was encouraging. By the time of the first leg against Borussia Dortmund, Celtic had played seven, won five, drawn one and lost one in the league.
The victories included a significant and morale-boosting 1-0 win over Rangers, in a match where Graeme Souness was sent off after a scything tackle on Billy Stark. The sole defeat was an unlucky one at Dunfermline. In the League Cup, Celtic had beaten Forfar and Dumbarton before exiting the competition by losing 0-1 at Aberdeen.
Murdo MacLeod (BVB) 26.08.1987 Photo: imago/Claus Bergmann
Despite the promising early signs, it would be fair to say that most Celtic fans did not entertain high hopes for an extended run in Europe. They were excited about the prospect of playing West German opposition for the first time, and by the chance to welcome Murdo MacLeod back to Celtic Park, although this time Murdo would be wearing the yellow and black of Dortmund.
The first leg took place on 15 September 1987 at Celtic Park in front of a 41 404 crowd. Murdo was given an excellent ovation from the Celtic fans and the familiar chimes of “Murdo, Murdo” were heard several times during the match.
Celtic made the perfect start when Andy Walker scored a typical opportunist goal inside the six-yard box after only 4 minutes. “It was the kind of opening manager Billy NcNeill had been praying for,” reported The Times (London). In the rest of the first half, Mark McGhee came close with three efforts but Celtic could not add to their lead.
As expected, Dortmund came much more into the game in the second half. Raducanu missed with a clear header after 62 minutes before the Germans equalised in 68 minutes. It was a poor goal to lose, coming immediately after a Celtic attack was cleared and a long ball was sent around 40 yards into the edge of the Celtic penalty area.
Aitken and Mill both chased but the latter won possession, cut back into a more central position and fired a fierce shot between Aitken and Morris and past McKnight in goal.
Celtic again took control and enjoyed the bulk of play for the rest of the match. They managed to grab a second goal one minute from time to give them hope for the second leg. Dortmund’s defence failed to clear a long cross from the left which eventually broke to Derek Whyte, who drove the ball home from a few yards out.
Celtic had been the better side but had failed to take their chances when on top and had conceded yet another soft goal in a home European match.
