The pre-match formalities. Celtic v Atletico Madrid, Behind Closed Doors match in September 1985.
Celtic players were badly affected by the surreal, near-dead atmosphere
Unsurprisingly, the Celtic players were badly affected by the surreal, near-dead atmosphere and produced their worst performance in many months. Atletico took the lead in 38 minutes after what was almost an action replay of the goal scored by Rapid at Old Trafford. This time, Murdo MacLeod hit the bar from a yard out and from the rebound Atletico darted swiftly upfield and scored through Setien.
The Spaniards effectively killed the tie after 71 minutes, when Quique ran half the length of the pitch and drove a fierce left foot shot past Bonner. Atletico were now two goals ahead on aggregate and had also scored a second away goal, meaning Celtic now needed to score THREE times to win the tie.
Celtic v Atletico Madrid, Behind Closed Doors match in September 1985.
Two minutes later, Roy Aitken pulled one back for Celtic but it was too little, too late. In truth, never at any point did Celtic look capable of producing the level of performance needed to win the second leg.
Davie Hay’s fears about how the players would react to an empty stadium had proven to be well-founded. “The players were badly affected by the flat atmosphere. It shows how much our supporters mean to the club. We just did not play at all”, he said after the match.
Thirty-five years later, the same phenomenon would again be witnessed during the long, slow car-crash of the pandemic season in 2020/21, when it could be argued that Celtic suffered more than any other club without the presence of their support in the stadium.
Celtic v Atletico Madrid, Behind Closed Doors match in September 1985.
Celtic were yet again out of Europe at the first attempt
Celtic were yet again out of Europe at the first attempt, and once more after giving themselves a strong chance of qualifying after the first leg. They had not played in Europe after Christmas since 1980 and, incredibly, would not do so again until 2003 under Martin O’Neill. To rub salt in the wound, Atletico would go all the way to the Final in May 1986, only to lose by three goals to Dynamo Kiev.
