On this day in 2004 – Celtic 1 Barcelona 0 (Thompson 59 mins)

CELTIC beat an in form Barcelona side 1-0 in the UEFA Cup at Celtic Park on this day in 2004.

Rather unusually the key moment in this knock-out round took place not on the pitch at all but in the tunnel at half-time. A bit of handbags, involving an irate Bobo Balde, resulted in a few red cards and rather unfortunately for him,  it was big Rab Douglas who was punished from the Celtic side – despite how being more of a peace-maker in the incident.

That meant that young David Marshall came on for the second half and for the return leg in the Nou Camp shortly afterwards – and he was not going to be beaten.

The only goal of the tie came from Alan Thompson after a fine header from Henrik Larsson set him up, the Englishman did the rest.  Less that a year after Seville, this was another night to remember for Martin O’Neill’s Celtic in Europe.

The Celtic team was Douglas, Varga, Balde, McNamara, Agathe, Pearson, Lennon, Petrov, Thompson, Larsson, Beattie.

Here are the highlights from a fabulous night at Celtic Park…

About Author

The Celtic Star founder and editor, who has edited numerous Celtic books over the past decade or so including several from Lisbon Lions, Willie Wallace, Tommy Gemmell and Jim Craig. Earliest Celtic memories include a win over East Fife at Celtic Park and the 4-1 League Cup loss to Partick Thistle as a 6 year old. Best game? Easy 4-2, 1979 when Ten Men Won the League. Email editor@thecelticstar.co.uk

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