Celtic 3-0 Fiorentina, 4 March 1970. Billy McNeill, Bertie Auld, Tommy Gemmell and Bobby Murdoch celebrate at full time. Photo The Celtic Wiki
In the 1970 quarter-finals, Celtic were once more drawn at home for the first leg. This time their opponents would be Italian side Fiorentina. The Serie A side desperately hoped to reach what would be their second European Cup Final; they offered the huge sum of £1500 per player to win this tie.
The home leg took place on 4 March 1970. Pre-match, their manager boasted that his side were technically better than Celtic. To say the least, this proved to be incorrect. Celtic dominated from the very start and within 30 minutes, Bertie Auld – the eventual man-of-the-match – gave the Hoops the lead. A Carpenetti own-goal at the start of the second half doubled this before Stevie Chalmers scored in the 89th minute.
Match ticket Fiorentina v Celtic, 1970
Job done in Florence
Once again, Celtic had a 3-0 first leg advantage. However, after the Benfica experience, Celtic were still wary when they travelled to Italy two weeks later. In this fixture, they proved they had learned their lessons. Despite trailing 1-0 at half-time, Celtic’s defence was much more assured in the second half. Although they lost 1-0, the Bhoys were through 3-1 on aggregate.
Tommy Callachan in Florence. Fiorentina 1-0 Celtic, European Cup quarter final, second leg. 18 March 1970. Photo The Celtic Wiki
Interestingly, Celtic’s victory made them the first British team to beat an Italian team over two legs in European senior competition. Jock Stein suggested these previous lack of victories were down to terrible refereeing, and bemoaned the match official in the Fiorentina game. No matter, Celtic were in the semis.
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