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Trivia
- Red Star were a good team and did not want to meet Celtic so early in the competition. They had six Yugoslav internationals in the side and their star player was inside left Acimovic.
- The fitness doubt for Celtic was goalkeeper Ronnie Simpson. He had injured a knee and thigh playing for Scotland the previous week. He failed a fitness test before the game and Fallon continued in goal. It was therefore an unchanged team from the one that had faced Arbroath at the weekend.
- All ticket match.
- Arguably the greatest game Jimmy Johnstone ever played in his Celtic career.
- At 1-1 at half time Stein offers Jinky the chance to stay at home to avoid flying to Belgrade if Celtic get a 3 goal lead.
- The wee man, who had a fear of flying, runs riot in the second half by scoring twice and laying on two others.
- Celtic played in green jerseys, green shorts and green socks.
- Stein said to have been hoarse after the game after all the shouting he did from the side.
- Johnstone did not travel to the return in Yugoslavia.
- Celtic fan Jim O'Neil was fined by court for running on the field to congratulate Jimmy Johnstone (see report below)
Review
Ronnie Simpson failed a fitness test just before kick off but took a seat on the bench as substitute goalkeeper.
At half time, with the score 1-1, Celtic were under real pressure. The Yugoslavs had played well in the first half and put on some pressure. But Stein had cajoled Johnstone during the break by telling him if Celtic got a four goal lead he would not have to travel to Belgrade for the return. This gave Johnstone the incentive to go out and tear Red Star apart.
In the second half Johnstone absolutely ran riot and destroyed the Slavs. Red Star's great Yugoslav winger Dragan Dzajic was put in the shade by Jinky's display. The triumvirate of Craig, Murdoch and Johnstone on Celtic's right hand side never played better as a unit the way they did that night.
The fifth goal was the most spectacular. A long ball from Murdoch allowed Johnstone to tear past several defenders before scoring.
This was easily one of the greatest night's in Celtic's long history. It could have been more as the Red Star keeper Djurkovic made outstanding saves from Gemmell and Hughes.
Although Stein made optimistic noises about Jinky travelling for the return he relented and allowed the wee man not to travel in view of his promise and the wee man's fear of flying.
On this form Celtic were easily regarded as one of the world's best sides and the Celtic fans left Parkhead happy and singing loudly. Stein boasted afterwards 'Who can beat us on that form ?'
Teams
Celtic:
Fallon, Craig, Gemmell, Murdoch, McNeill, Brogan, Johnstone, Wallace, Chalmers, Lennox, Hughes. Subs: Simpson, O'Neill, Clark, Auld, Connelly
Fallon Craig Gemmell Murdoch McNeill Clark Johnstone Wallace Chalmers Lennox Hughes
Scorers: Murdoch (3), Johnstone 2 (47, 81), Lennox (50), Wallace (75)
Red Star:
Djurkovic Djoric Krivocuka Pavlovic Dojcinovski Klenkovski Antonijevic Ostojic Lazervic Acimovic Dzajic
Scorer: Lazervic 39
Referee: A Ott (West Germany)
Attendance: 68,000
Articles
- Match Report
Pictures
Articles
Evening Times 14th November 1968
