| Match Pictures | Matches: 1983 – 1984 | 1983-84 Pictures |
Trivia
- Stampe missed a penalty in the 29th minute.
Review
Celtic lined up against the Danish side for a match that we had all been led to believe, by the press, would see a goals avalanche in Celtic’s favour.
It was, more or less, a one-sided match. Celtic continuously pressed towards goal but the avalanche never came and in the end only a goal by Roy Aitken separated the teams after a bad mistake by goalkeeper Rasmussen.
Celtic played poorly with Burns in particular badly off form.
Teams
Celtic:-
Bonner, McGrain, Reid, Aitken, W McStay, MacLeod, Provan, P McStay, McGarvey, Burns, Melrose (McClair 63)
Subs:- Latchford, Dobbin, McAdam, Halpin.
Goal:- Aitken 63.
Aarhus:-
Rasmussen, Wachmann, B Kristensen, Stampe, Olsen, Scheepers, Ziegler, Andersen, Duedahl, Lundvist, K Kristensen
Subs:- Hinge T Christansen Ziegler O Christansen Trads
Referee:- Castillo (Spain)
Att:- 23,569.
Articles
- Match Report (See Below)
Pictures
Articles
Evening Times 15th September 1983
Match Report
Danish football has come a long way since permission was given for stay-at-home players to turn professional five years ago. The club sides are of a higher standard than much of the British press would have us believe.
Celtic have been drawn one of the oldest and proudest of these clubs, Aarhus Gymnastik Forening, in the UEFA Cup. Now we would all get to see what the Danish club game had to offer.
The match started as everyone expected, with Celtic in the driving seat and piling on the pressure. It was only a matter of time, it seemed, before the goals started rolling in.
As the first half progressed it began to look more and more as if the first goal would be hard to get but still it seemed that once it was, many more would then follow on top.
The Danes defended well though, and had some lucky escapes. A tremendous McGarvey header hit the woodwork, Melrose found himself in the clear only to see his shot hit the keeper and go out for a corner.
Aarhus also looked dangerous on the break with two front men chasing everything well into the Celtic half.
All their moves, however, tended to break down on the eighteen yard line. It appeared as though none of their players wanted to take the responsibility for shooting. An indication of this perhaps is the fact that the Danes did not win a single corner during the entire match.
They did have an ideal opportunity to take the lead in the 29th minute when they were given a penalty in an amazing decision. Celtic new boy, Willie McStay, who was playing in his first European tie precisely played the ball away from the feet of the Aarhus winger inside the penalty area. The visitor fell to the ground and the referee amazingly pointed to the penalty spot.
There was some sort of justice in the fact that having sent Pat Bonner the wrong way, John Stampe saw his kick go far wide.
It was incredible that the fans should feel such relief after watching their team pile on so much early pressure, but it had turned into that kind of match.
There was no scoring at half-time and everyone in the crowd still believed that things would click into place for Celtic and they’d start to score. They didn’t.
The Danes continued to pack their defence and there seemed to be nothing the Celtic midfield could do to penetrate this wall. Would a goal ever come their way?
Indeed one did, although it was not of the spectacular kind you would expect to be a European tie winner. From a Davie Provan corner, Roy Aitken sent in a strong header. The Danish keeper seemed to have it in his grasp but incredibly let it find its way into the back of the net. Immediately after this goal, Celtic replaced Melrose with McClair. The new striker seemed to add a bit of sharpness up front and his direct running seemed to worry the defence, but there was no further scoring.
A victory, but a disappointing game and now Celtic still have a lot to do when they visit Aarhus next Wednesday evening.