For much of Celtic’s Champions League history, Celtic Park has been a fortress. Certainly, in 2009 it was strongly regarded as such, with very few home defeats ever taking place in the competition. However, the Bhoys were extremely disappointed to suffer a 1-0 loss against Dinamo Moscow in the qualifiers, leaving themselves with an almost impossible task of needing to win by two goals in Russia if they were to have a chance of reaching the group stages. Nevertheless, it was on this day in 2009 that Celtic travelled to Moscow and did just that!
Scott McDonald’s header levelled the tie just before half time and then Georgios Samaras scored a dramatic late winner to seal a 2-0 victory – Celtic’s first away win in the Champions League since 2003!
The Hoops marched on to the final round of qualification, where Arsenal lay in wait.