On this day in 1980, Celtic recorded a famous 2-0 victory over Real Madrid in the European Cup Quarter-Final (first leg). It was a quite sensational result, marking Celtic’s last venture to that stage of the competition (to date) in style – even if the second leg was a disaster in Spain.
The match came as part of Billy McNeill’s first season managing in the European Cup, and the boss was delighted when George McCluskey put Celtic ahead with a close range strike from a rebounded effort.
Real Madrid hadn’t won the tournament since 1966 but were still an illustrious name. Therefore, it was no surprise to see Johnny Doyle, a boyhood Celt, wheel away in delight when he leapt between two defenders to head the ball into the back of the net and give the Hoops a 2-0 lead.
the scoreline stayed that way. A famous victory was recorded and Johnny Doyle has written his name in Celtic folklore along side all the other highs and lows as a Bhoy who lived the dream.