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Scotland's clubs have had many glory nights in European football history. To mark Rangers reaching the
quarter final of the UEFA Cup in 2008 we've put together a Top 10 of the best of them. The dates perhaps
reflect the waning influence, not just of Scottish clubs in Europe, but of all small nations. The behemoth
that is the Champions League has seen to that. All the notable, recent achievements by Scottish sides have
been completed by the Big 2 in Glasgow. Indeed, Celtic's 2003 UEFA Cup campaign, knocking Barcelona and
Liverpool out en route, came very close to inclusion.
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No.4
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1987 - Barcelona 1:2 Dundee Utd - Camp Nou (Barcelona, Spain)
Twenty odd years ago an autocratic bugger, Jim McLean, bullied, cajoled and inspired a collection of decent Scottish footballers to
beat mighty Barcelona, not once but twice, in the 1987 Uefa Cup tournament.
After disposing of Lens, University Craiova and Hadjuk Split,
the Arabs lined up against a team they had completed a double over in the 1966 Fairs Cup.
Barca were managed by Englishman Terry Venables who had brought in two English stars, Gary Linker and Mark Hughes the previous summer.
Barca were also blessed with an array of Spanish internationals and had reached the previous years European Cup final.
However United had excellent European credentials themselves, having lost the 1984 European Cup semi final in Rome only with the
help of a bent referee.
The first leg was played at Tannadice and ended in a narrow 1-0 win thanks to a lobbed effort from
Kevin Gallacher. It wasn't expected to be enough in Catalonia and this was emphasised when Ramon Caldere levelled the tie five
minutes before half time. But inspired by quality players such as David Narey, Maurice Malpas and particularly United
legend, Paul Sturrock, they equalised on the night in the 85th minute with a header from John Clark.
Sturrock, who had tortured the Barcelona defence all night, then set up Iain Ferguson to head home a winner on the night and
maintain the Tangerines 100% record against the Spanish giants.
The Barcelona crowd produced the traditional surrender sign of the white handkerchiefs to the team, but this was a thoroughly
deserved victory for United. Probably the greatest night in the clubs history.
The Tayside team, enjoying the greatest
period in the clubs history went onto the final only to lose to Gothenburg, 2-1 on aggregate.
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Video Clips:
Match Highlights (YouTube).
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No.5
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1962 - Dundee 8:1 Cologne - Dens Park (Dundee, Scotland)
The glory years for Dundee FC have been few and far between. Yet it is unarguable that the early 1960s was the greatest
era for the club. The years 1961-63 saw The Dark Blues lift their only League Championship and then embark on a fabulous run
to the European Cup semi finals. In 1962, expertly guided by Bob 'Brother of Bill' Shankly, Dundee lifted the title, three points
clear of Rangers. In the first round they were drawn against German champions Cologne.
This was an era before German club football
was dominant in Europe, but Cologne were still a formidable obstacle. Two years earlier Eintract Frankfurt had humiliated
Rangers 12-4 on aggregate in the semi-final before suffering their own embarrassment against Real Madrid in the final.
In the opening leg Dundee, led by the great Alan Gilzean, gave the Germans the mother of all whippings, 8-1. In the Rhineland it was a
different story. The German keeper had been injured in the 1st leg and Dundee keeper Bert Slater was kicked in the head in the 2nd.
He was stretchered off but on recovering his senses he returned to the pitch and played on the wing. With Cologne pegging goals back
Slater decided to go back between the sticks and helped the Tayside club hold the score to 4-0, meaning a barely credible 8-5
aggregate victory.
Dundee left the field with the police holding the crowd back with dogs. In disgust they refused to attend the post-match banquet.
The victory wasn't a fluke. Shankly's men went on to beat Sporting Lisbon and Anderlect before an awesome AC Milan side finally ended
hopes of an unlikely first ever British winner of the European Cup, with a final at Wembley only a tie away.
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No.6
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1970 - Celtic 2:1 Leeds Utd - Celtic Park (Glasgow, Scotland)
Arguably the mother of all the 'Battles of Britain', this 1970 duel is still a legend in the green half of Glasgow,
possibly second only to that night in Lisbon. Prior to the tie both Don Revie and Jock Stein had tried to gain the psychological
upper hand but it was Stein who would be proved the master on this occasion.
At Elland Road a George Connelly goal gave Celtic a huge advantage. The second leg was played at Hampden Park in front of astonishing
crowd of 136,505 - a European Cup record. Billy Bremner levelled matters with a 30 yarder before John Hughes and Bobby Murdoch
restored Celtic's dominance in the 2nd half. The late Jimmy Johnstone took the man of the match plaudits in what was possibly his
greatest night. He simply tormented the Leeds defence. Celtic fell at the final hurdle to Feyenoord, but they still dine out on
the famous semi-final. For the Yorkshire club defeat came amid a terrifying backlog of fixtures. On the night of the 1st leg
Everton took their League title and they were subsequently to lose the cup final to Chelsea after another brace of epic matches.
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No.7
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1961 - Hibernian 3:2 Barcelona - Easter Road (Edinburgh, Scotland)
In 1961 Hibernian were coming to the end of the most successful period in the clubs history. In December 1960 they were drawn
against a Barcelona side who were beginning to overturn the long dominance of their bitter rivals Real Madrid.
Barca had won the league in 1959 and 1960 and had knocked Real out of that year's European Cup, thus ending their 5 year
dominance of the trophy. In short Barcelona were a formidable team. Bizarrely they were also competing in that season's
Fairs Cup.
The opening match at Easter Road was postponed due to fog, meaning the first leg took place in
Catalonia. An astonishing game ensued. Hibernian, inspired by England international Joe Baker, led 2-0 and 4-2 before
Barca managed to fight back and level at four each.
The 2nd leg did not take place until the 22nd February. 50,000 were packed into the Leith ground and they were to witness
one of the greatest nights in the clubs history. Barca, with world class players such as Luis Suarez and the great Hungarian,
Kocsis, led 2-1 at half-time, despite falling behind to another Baker strike, his third of the tie.
In the 2nd half the Hibees piled on the pressure and Preston levelled to make it 2-2. But the fun still wasn't over.
On 84 minutes McLeod was chopped down and the German referee blew for a penalty. Truly chaotic scenes followed.
The ref was manhandled by a posse of enraged Spaniards and Suarez actually managed to floor the official with a kick.
After a ten minute delay the kick was duly despatched by Kinloch. However, the violence wasn't over. Herr Plalka tried to
leave the field but disappeared under a mass of angry players. A number of Hibs supporters tried to intervene as did the police.
Eventually, order was restored and the ref didn't abandon the match. Hibs
had won an incredible tie 7-6 on aggregate and went on to lose to Roma in a semi final play-off.
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No.8
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1962 - Dunfermline 6:2 Valencia - East End Park (Dunfermline, Scotland)
The 1960s were a golden era for the Fife club. This was largely due to the emergence of their greatest ever manager,
a man who was to become one of the all time greats, Jock Stein. Stein took over in 1960 and promptly turned a relegation
threatened side into one that qualified for the Fairs Cup (forerunner of the UEFA Cup) in 1962.
In round 1 they managed to eliminate one of England's footballing aristocrats, Everton. A single goal defeat at
Goodison was overturned in front on 21,813 supporters packed into East End Park. But it was the next round where
things got silly. Drawn against Valencia the Pars were hammered 4-0 in south eastern Spain. It looked all over.
However, the Spaniards clearly didn't fancy a trip to Fife six days before Christmas and they promptly collapsed.
After 18 minutes the Pars had already snatched back three of the goals. By half time it was 5-1.
A MacLean own goal on 52 minutes swung the game back in Valencia's favour but four minutes later Dunfermline were
level again, 6-2 on the night, 6-6 on aggregate. Remarkably it stayed that way.
In those days play-offs were required to settle ties with no outright winner. The game was played in early February 1963.
While the country shivered in a terrible winter, the Pars went off to sunny Lisbon, where the dream died.
One goal was enough to knock them out after a glorious effort.
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Video Clips:
This clip is of Harry Melrose's winner against Everton (YouTube).
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No.9
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1995 - Bayern Munich 2:1 Raith Rovers - Olympic Stadium (Munich, Germany)
In 1994 tiny Raith Rovers stunned Scottish football when they beat Celtic 6-5 on penalties to lift the League Cup.
In those days the competition was still a ticket to the UEFA Cup. This was the first time a club from outside the
top division had ever represented Scotland in Europe. After dealing with the cream of the Faroe Islands and Iceland,
Raith were paired with Bavarian behemoths, Bayern Munich. Bayern won the first leg at Hibernian's Easter Road with
two Jurgen Klinsmann goals. Klinsmann had reported prior to the match that his fellow stars were utilising his
knowledge of Britain by asking him to point out Raith on the map. In Germany, with the tie as good as over, Bayern
were shocked when the Kirkcaldy club took the lead when the Austrian midfielder Andreas Herzog put through his
own goal. It remained that way until half time, where the Olympic Stadium scoreboard formed the design for a
famous local t-shirt design. The dream was too implausible to last and second half strikes from Klinsmann and
Markus Babbel stopped any possible nonsense. But for the thousands of Fifers who travelled out to Bavaria,
this was a night of dreams.
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Video Clips:
Match highlights of Raith's famous victory over Celtic at Ibrox (YouTube).
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No.10
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1992 - Leeds United 1:2 Rangers - Elland Road (Leeds, England)
The early Champions League tournaments tended to change their format on an annual basis.
In 1992 there were two rounds prior to the group stages, of which there would be eight
remaining champions. Inevitably, when the English and Scottish champions were drawn
together, the Battle of Britain headlines were trotted out. Leeds travelled to
Glasgow for the 1st leg and a wonder strike by Gary McAllister stunned the Ibrox crowd
into silence (quite literally silence, as hooligan fears meant that no away supporters
were allowed to either venue). An awful mistake by John Lukic allowed Rangers back into
the match before a typical Ally McCoist effort gave the home side a narrow advantage.
Before the start of the second leg at Elland Road Leeds were still favourites to
advance but a stunning half volley from Mark Hateley
changed the dynamics completely. A magnificent sweeping counter attack saw Hateley
turn provider with McCoist depositing a sublime header into Lukic's net and the tie
was over. A late Cantona consolation was irrelevant. Rangers went incredibly close to
reaching the final, missing out narrowly to Marseille, who were subsequently disgraced
by a French match fixing scandal.
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Video Clips:
Match highlights Leeds Utd v Rangers (YouTube).
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Article Keywords - Best Ever Scottish Club Matches
- Quality Scotland Performances in Europe
- Finest Soccer Games in EUFA competition by Scotland
- Top Ten Scotland Club Fixtures
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Top 10 Scottish Club Nights in Europe 