Top 10 Battles of Britain

Published 18:33 07/08/09

Celtic captain Billy McNeill, and Liverpool captain Ron Yeats, shake hands before the first leg of the European cup winners cup, semi-final, at Celtic Park, Glasgow. April 1966 P007128

1) TOTTENHAM v RANGERS
Cup-Winners' Cup first round 1962/63
On hearing the draw, Tottenham boss Bill Nicholson declared it would be 'the greatest game on earth'. The queue for tickets for the first leg at White Hart Lane stretched for more than two miles, and all 41,000 terrace tickets were sold in just two hours. In a match described by the Mirror as "a fizzing whizz bang of a game," Tottenham crushed Rangers 5-2. Six weeks later, Spurs beat Rangers 3-2 in front of 80,000 fans at Ibrox to progress 8-4 on aggregate.

2) CELTIC v LIVERPOOL
Cup-Winners' Cup semi-final 1965/66
In 1966, the Cup-Winners' Cup draw pitted the great friends Jock Stein and Bill Shankly against one another. Celtic won the first game at Parkhead 1-0, but Liverpool emerged 2-0 winners in the second leg thanks to goals from Tommy Smith and Geoff Strong. The referee disallowed a goal for Celtic, prompting thousands of beer bottles to rain down on the pitch from the away end in protest. After the game, Shankly reportedly quipped, "Jock, do you want your share of the gate money, or shall we just return the empties?"

3) LEEDS v CELTIC
European Cup semi-final 1969/70
In the first leg at Elland Road, Celtic took just 40 seconds to take the initiative, George Connelly scoring practically straight from the kick-off to secure a precious 1-0 win. The second leg at Hampden Park was watched by a crowd of 136,505, a figure that remains a record for a European club match to this day. Before the match, Jock Stein told his players, "Revie's s***ting himself. I've never seen that man as nervous in all my life. If he's like that, what do you think his players are like? They are there for the taking, believe you me." It paid off, as Celtic triumphed 2-1 to reach the final.

4) ABERDEEN v LIVERPOOL
European Cup second round 1981/82
Before this European Cup tie, Liverpool's canny manager Bob Paisley spent a lot of time talking up Alex Ferguson's men, and Gordon Strachan in particular, declaring the wee man had the potential to become Scotland's first £2million player. In his own words, Paisley was giving Strachan "a bit of toffee to chew on". Ignoring Public Enemy's maxim, 'Don't Believe The Hype', Strachan took the bait and put in a performance to forget as Liverpool grabbed a 1-0 win at Pittodrie, before routing the Dons 4-0 at Anfield. Meanwhile, Paisley's mind games may just have rubbed off on Ferguson…

5) MANCHESTER UNITED v DUNDEE UNITED
UEFA Cup third round 1984/85
It's hard to imagine now, but in the 1980s, Dundee United had a better European pedigree than Manchester United, reaching the European Cup semi-finals and the UEFA Cup final. In 1984, the two teams were paired together in the third round of the UEFA Cup, and Jim McLean's Tangerines pulled off an impressive 2-2 draw in the first leg at Old Trafford. But Ron Atkinson's men won the second leg 3-2 to progress 5-4 on aggregate.

6) RANGERS v LEEDS
European Cup second round 1992/93
The prize at stake in this much-anticipated tie was a passport to the riches of the first ever Champions League. Leeds drew first blood in the first game at Ibrox, Gary McAllister scoring after just two minutes, but that was as good as it got for Howard Wilkinson's side. John Lukic put through his own goal to make it all square before Ally McCoist gave them a priceless 2-1 lead to take to Elland Road. The second leg at Ibrox also ended 2-1 to Rangers to give them a 4-2 aggregate lead.

7) CELTIC v LIVERPOOL
UEFA Cup first round 1997/98
Inspired by a spine-tingling rendition of You'll Never Walk Alone from both sets of fans, Michael Owen gave Liverpool an early lead in this UEFA Cup clash at Celtic Park. But Celtic fought back with a goal from Jackie McNamara and a penalty from Simon Donnelly, before Steve McManaman embarked on one of the great solo runs, slaloming through the Celtic defence before dispatching the ball into the net to make it 2-2. The second game at Anfield ended 0-0 to put the Reds into the next round on away goals.

8) CELTIC v BLACKBURN ROVERS
UEFA Cup second round 2002/03
Blackburn's manager Graeme Souness must have looked forward to taking on Celtic after leading their bitter rivals Rangers for five seasons. But Martin O'Neill's team made the most of home advantage in the first leg, taking a 1-0 lead thanks to a late goal from Henrik Larsson. The Swede scored again early in the second game at Ewood Park, before Chris Sutton killed off the tie, scoring against his old club to give Celtic a 3-0 aggregate win.

9) CELTIC v LIVERPOOL
UEFA Cup quarter-finals 2002/03
Facing English opposition for the second time that season, Celtic claimed an impressive 1-1 draw with Liverpool in the first leg at Celtic Park. Liverpool's Senegalese striker El Hadji Diouf was on target for once, but unfortunately it was while he was spitting at the Celtic fans. In the second game at Anfield, goals from Alan Thompson and John Hartson ensured that, like Rangers, the Reds would be watching The Bill , while Celtic were in Seville.

10) MANCHESTER UNITED v CELTIC
Champions League group stage 2006/07
The first night of Champions League group games saw Celtic head for Old Trafford, and Gordon Strachan's men put up one almighty battle, taking the lead through Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, before going down fighting in a 3-2 defeat. It was a portent of things to come later in the group, as Celtic gained their revenge with a 1-0 victory at Celtic Park courtesy of a blistering free-kick from the magic left foot of Shunsuke Nakamura.

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