| Match Pictures | Matches: 1988 – 1989 | 1988 Pictures |
Trivia
- Celtic play in change strip of all yellow.
- 3000 Celtic fans travel to Bremen.
- Werder Bremen lost 1-0 on aggregate to eventual winners AC Milan in the quarter finals.
- Newspaper claim Celtic have bid £800,000 for Leicester's Scottish midfileder Gary McAllister.
Review
Celtic were frustrated on the night by an eccentric Italian referee who allowed Bremen to make heavy challenges at will but booked three Celtic players for less.
Celtic had the better efforts on the night with McAvennie slashing a shot wide and a McGhee drive which just cleared the bar.
With five minutes left Stark headed on to McStay who saw his shot saved by Reck and with that Celtic were out.
Near the end Bremen were blatantly time wasting much to the frustration of the Celtic playesr and their 3000 fans.
Teams
WERDER BREMEN:
O Reck; T Schaaf, J Otten, R Bratseth, G Hermann, U Borowka, T Wolter, M Votava, KH Riedle, F Neubarth (Buegsmuller 67), F Ordenewitz.
CELTIC: P Bonner; C Morris, A Rogan, R Aitken, M McCarthy, D Whyte, W Stark, P McStay, F McAvennie, M McGhee (O Archdeacon 81), T Burns (J Miller 78). Subs: Rough Baillie Traynor.
Referee: C Loughi (Italy).
Att: 38,980
Articles
- Match Report (see below)
Pictures
Articles
Evening Times 9th November 1988
“Celtic tumble to spoiling tactics”
The Times (London, England) (Nov 9, 1988)
Byline: Roddy Forsyth; Bremen
Werder Bremen 0 Celtic 0
(Werder Bremen win 1-0 on aggregate)
Celtic, trailing by one goal from the first leg, lacked the guile necessary to overcome opponents who last night sacrificed the skills displayed in Scotland for a cynical performance of time-wasting which guaranteed their progress in the European Cup. Bremen pushed four players forward in the early stages while taking every opportunity to slow the flow of play. Nevertheless, the West German champions were able to manufacture menace almost at will before Celtic settled into a rhythm. In the sixth minute it was evident that Celtic looked uneasy in the face of aerial threat. When Bratseth arrived for a header from a corner kick he was allowed a free opportunity, despite the proximity of McCarthy and Whyte. Within seconds Celtic were exposed again, this time by a forward thrust by Riedle, and soon after Morris was forced to make a timely intervention, heading clear on the line. At last, with 15 minutes gone, Celtic created alarm. It was the product of the simplest type of move, a clearance from Bonner which bounced awkwardly into the German penalty area, at the edge of which lurked McAvennie. His snap shot, although well wide, was encouraging. Bremen replied with a compact move which linked Schaaf and Votava for a deceptive shot which Bonner clutched gratefully on the line. It was Celtic, however, who began to emerge into a dominant phase of the game. Their first fluent combination found Rogan, Burns and McAvennie connecting to produce an opportunity which, unfortunately, bounced badly for the Celtic forward. Within a minute, another deep cross from Stark narrowly eluded McAvennie and Burns at the far post. McGhee's contribution was muted because McAvennie was obliged to drop off his partner to mark Otten. Although the problem was remedied after the interval, they were starved of supply from midfield where fluency was made impossible by Bremen's delaying tactics. These included lengthy delays whenever there was any hint of an injury to one of their players, although for Neubarth it was the real thing when he was carried off with a head wound. McAvennie was fortunate not to be spotted by the referee when he cuffed Odden who had spent much of the match clattering him. He was though, cautioned for catching Votava painfully on the thigh. With 10 minutes to play, Celtic brought on Miller and Archdeacon in place of McGhee and Burns. Bremen resorted to an almost endless sequence of time-wasting strategies to deny their opponents possession, and Celtic's dismay was completed when the Italian referee declined to add more than a minute for stoppages.