The Lisbon Lions flag unfurled at the Champions League final in Munich last Saturday night did not escape the notice of Celtic fans who know their history.
After all, the Glasgow club understand better than most what it takes to win a quadruple that includes the European Cup — they did it in 1967.
What’s more, their achievement 58 years ago was completed by beating Inter in the final, just as Paris Saint-Germain did at the Allianz Arena over the weekend.
While PSG’s breathtaking 5-0 triumph was brutally one-sided, it is worth pointing out that Celtic were also convincing winners back in the day.
Their 2-1 victory under Jock Stein does not reflect their domination of the game, one in which they took all the initiative and Inter parked the bus.
Had they released statistics at the time, they would have shown that Celtic had 45 shots (16 on target) to Inter’s three.
Billy McNeil led the Celtic side that won a quadruple of European Cup, league title, Scottish Cup and League Cup
Paris Saint Germain also sealed a quadruple when they defeated Inter MIlan in the Champions League final
Some fans held a tribute to the LIsbon Lions’ aloft during last Saturday’s final in Munich
They had 64 per cent possession, won 10 corners to their opponents’ zero and completed 86 more passes.
And Stein’s historic team were not the multi-billion dollar product of a Qatari-government backed investment fund. All of Celtic’s players famously came from within 30 miles of Glasgow.
Of course, football now isn’t what it was then. The money is bigger, the competition is tougher and Celtic haven’t the remotest chance of doing it again.
What they do have is a little bit of history. They were the first — and are still the only — club to have won a quadruple that comprises a European Cup, a league title, a national cup and a league cup.
PSG’s four successes this season included the Trophee des Champions, an annual contest — not unlike England’s Community Shield — between the previous season’s league and cup winners.
They don’t have a League Cup in France, or indeed in many other countries across Europe, which is why Celtic’s record is likely to stand for a while yet.
Tierney set to join the half-century club for Scotland
Not for the first time, Scotland’s two biggest clubs are pitifully under-represented in the country’s national squad, which has gathered this week for two international friendlies.
Anthony Ralston is the only current Celtic player picked for the Scotland matches against Iceland on Friday and Liechtenstein on Monday.
Celtic-bound Kieran Tierney is expected to win 50th cap for Scotland over the next few days
Kieran Tierney, set to return to Celtic, is seen in action against Switzerland during last year’s Euros in Germany
Anthony Ralston is the only current Celtic player listed in Steve Clarke’s squad for double header
Rangers have only John Souttar and Connor Barron in Steve Clarke’s selection, which says a lot about the Glasgow clubs’ dependence on overseas talent.
To be fair, their best homegrown youngsters — such as Ben Doak and Rory Wilson — are hoovered up by English clubs before they have made the first team.
And Celtic have some credit in the bank. James Forrest and Callum McGregor were academy products who dedicated their careers to the club and became Scotland regulars in the process.
More pertinently, Brendan Rodgers can rightly point out that Kieran Tierney, listed as an Arsenal player in the latest squad list, is returning to Celtic.
The defender, who signed for Celtic at the age of seven and left them for the Premier League in 2019, will make his 50th Scotland appearance if, as expected, he plays in either of the forthcoming friendlies.
A half century of caps will elevate Tierney to the Scottish FA’s Roll of Honour, which earns him a commemorative gold medal, an invitation to every Scotland home match and a portrait hung in the Scottish Football Museum.
He will join 13 former Celtic players on that list: Kenny Dalglish, Craig Gordon, Paul McStay, Tom Boyd, Kenny Miller, Callum McGregor, Danny McGrain, Ryan Christie, John Collins, Roy Aitken, Scott Brown, Gary Caldwell and Stuart Armstrong. Not bad for a 27-year-old who plays in the same position as Scotland captain Andy Robertson and has been troubled by injuries, most notably a long-term one picked up at the Euro 24 finals.
Tierney is the kind of player supporters identify with and precisely the kind of player that Scotland and Celtic need more of. If only there were a few more where he came from.
Tierney is the kind of player supporters identify with and the kind of player that Scotland need more of
Johnston says summer recruits MUST be mentally tough
Alistair Johnston is clear on the one key ingredient Rodgers will be looking for in any new recruit as he prepares to step into the transfer market this summer – the mental strength to cope with the pressure-packed ‘fishbowl’ of Glasgow.
Rodgers has already made it clear that he is looking to strengthen in a number of positions in the wake of the Scottish Cup final loss to Aberdeen and has his feelers out in the market for new faces.
However, Johnson believes the talent search his boss has embarked upon is about way more than fast wingers or prolific centre forwards with a solid on-field record behind them.
The Canada right back admits it has taken time for him to settle into the relentless spotlight and difficult expectations that come with being a Celtic player and admits his two-and-a-half years at the club can sometimes feel like a decade.
Talking to the official Celtic podcast at the end of the campaign, Johnston admitted the pressures of life in Glasgow as a player can drive you crazy and ‘push you over the edge’.
He believes that is why a number of individuals with good on-field records have failed to make it in the heat of Old Firm battle and has explained what it takes to succeed – no matter your background or your transfer fee.
‘It is not easy to play at Celtic in terms of the pressure and the demands. That’s what you see when the guys with the guys who are successful here,’ he said.
‘It is not always going to be perfect, but they manage to get through it, find ways to contribute – even if they are not having a great game. OK, what other things can they do to help the team win?
Alistair Johnston says players have to be able to cope in the Glasgow pressure cooker
Johnston says team-mate James Forrest is a perfect example of the resilience required to thrive at Celtic Park
Canadian Johnston admits it took him a while to settle under the spotlight at the club
‘Because, here, you are not only expected to win. You are expected to win a certain way. You are expected to dominate.
‘That’s not easy. That’s pressure. Every single game, going in with those expectations can wear guys down.
‘I felt the effects of that. I have only been here just over two years, but, man, if someone told me I had been here a decade, I wouldn’t say you were wrong in terms of how much I have grown on and off the pitch, how much I have matured as a person.
‘It is something you’ve got to enjoy. You have got to enjoy that aspect of it, because, otherwise, it can drive you crazy. It can push you over the edge.
‘That’s why a lot of players, I find, fail. It is not because they are not technical enough or don’t have the talent. It is because the whole situation can become overwhelming – living in Glasgow, the pressures of it, going out to get groceries and people recognising you.
‘Living as a Celtic player 24/7 is a lot and you have got to enjoy that. You have to understand there will good times and bad times and you can’t get too high or too low. If you are on a rollercoaster of emotions, you are setting yourself up for failure.
‘It adds another whole dimension to it, being a footballer here. If you don’t feel confident in yourself, it can be a tough place to play.
Callum McGregor was also highlighted as a player who the defender has ‘such respect’ for
‘I have such respect for the guys who have been here for a decade plus in terms of the Jamesy Forrests and the Callum McGregors of the world – because, man, they are going to live here as well their entire lives after they retire.
‘They only will ever know this fishbowl that is Glasgow as a Celtic player and that is an impressive trait. Just having that mental strength to be able to deal with that pressure day in, day out.
‘That mental fortitude, playing that mind game with yourself, is way more difficult than controlling a ball or hitting a diagonal.’
Bernardo ready to join forces with former Old Firm foe
Paulo Bernardo is ready to team up with a former Old Firm rival in an attempt to bring glory to his nation over the next few weeks.
The 23-year-old Celtic midfielder has been picked in Portugal’s initial 26-man squad for the European Under-21 Championship in Slovakia along with former Rangers striker Fabio Silva.
Silva spent six months on loan at Ibrox in the 2023-24 season before moving to Spanish side Las Palmas on a temporary agreement from parent club Wolves last term.
Portuguese Under-21 coach Rui Jorge will trim the squad to 23 players before his side’s first match of the tournament against France on June 11, but both Bernardo and Silva are expected to survive on account of their top-level experience in the club game.
The twosome also have the opportunity to become real history-makers as, despite producing a conveyor belt of talent over the years, Portugal have never won the European Championship at Under-21 level.
Paulo Bernardo is swapping Celtic Park for the international scene with Portugal Under-21s
Bernardo will be joined in the Portugal squad by former Rangers star Fabio Silva
Celtic midfielder Bernardo is looking forward to playing his part in European Championship with his country’s Under-21s side
Bernardo signed for Celtic on a permanent £3.5million deal last summer after a spell on loan from Benfica, but made just 11 starts in the Premiership last term and will also seek to use his nation’s games in Slovakia to prove a point to club manager Brendan Rodgers ahead of next season.
Silva, meanwhile, has the chance to become his country’s most prolific scorer at Under-21 level. He has 15 goals to his credit with former Porto, Werder Bremen and Besiktas hit-man Hugo Almeida holding the record with 16.
‘It is a goal, but it is not something that I am obsessed with or that my head is obsessed with achieving.’ said Silva. ‘I think that, up until now, the goals I have scored here in the national team and the level I have shown have been achieved in a very natural and constant way and that is why that is what I will continue to do.’
