As we continue our build-up to the Dublin Decider between Celtic and Liverpool here’s a look back at some previous clashes between the sides.
There have been no end of testimonial games played between Celtic and Liverpool down the years but you have to go all the way back to 2003 for the last competitive clash.
In that year’s UEFA Cup, the two clubs met at the quarter-final stage. The first leg, played at Celtic Park, had a dream start for the home side as that man Henrik Larsson, just five weeks after breaking his jaw, put the Bhoys ahead after three minutes.
But Gerard Houlier’s side hung in there and Emile Heskey scored a valuable away goal just 14 minutes later.
The second leg, played at Anfield on March 20, 2003, was perfectly poised and Martin O’Neill’s men went through quite comfortably in the end thanks to a 2-0 lead.
The goals, which you can see below, were a low Alan Thompson free kick and a simply stunning strike by John Hartson.
Celtic would go all the way to the final that year, only to be thwarted by Jose Mourinho’s Porto in the final.
Before that, you have to go back to 1997 for another meeting of the sides, once again in the UEFA Cup. This time it was a first round game and the first leg was a gripping 2-2 draw, with Liverpool snatching a late, and quite brilliant, equaliser at Parkhead via Steve McManaman’s 80 yard dribble.
With the second leg finishing 0-0, that McManaman goal sent Liverpool through.
The teams would also met in the semi final of the 1966 European Cup Winners’ Cup and Bill Shankly’s team would progress 2-1 but another, non-competitive, meeting also deserves a mention.
Just two weeks after the tragic events at Hillsborough in 1989, Celtic hosted Liverpool in a fundraiser for the disaster appeal fund. Liverpool won 4-0, with two goals by John Aldridge and one by a man loved by both clubs, Kenny Dalglish.
But the result didn’t matter, the bond between the clubs did and for Celtic to reach out at that awful time proved it. The footage of the game, the first Liverpool played after the disaster, is still very powerful, especially the impeccable minute’s silence before kick-off.
