Manchester United vs Celtic FC Tickets

Manchester United’s history in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League is evidence of their standing in the game on the continent, but the simple truth is that since Sir Alex Ferguson quit as Old Trafford boss, they have achieved very little in the top-tier tournament.

Prior to the re-branding of the competition, Manchester United had, of course, won the European Cup, and when they did so, in 1967/68, they were the first English side to do so; interestingly enough, their opponents, Celtic, were the first British team to achieve that feat.

However, from 1969 to 1993, they did not compete in the competition due to their lack of domestic success, something that was remedied by Ferguson’s arrival. The Scot then took the club to the UEFA Champions League Final in 1999 and famously came back from a goal down to defeat Bayern Munich in dramatic circumstances when first Teddy Sheringham and then Ole Gunnar Solskjaer netted in injury time.

Nine years later, they repeated the feat, beating Chelsea on penalties in Moscow. The following season, they lost to FC Barcelona in Rome 2-0 and then fell to another defeat to the Catalan giants two years later, this time by a 3-1 scoreline at Wembley Stadium.

The club reached the Quarter-Final in the first season following Ferguson’s retirement and two years later failed to get out of their group, and similarly, limp finishes have occurred in subsequent seasons. In 2022/23, Erik ten Hag secured a return to the competition after a season in the UEFA Europa League, and the Dutch boss will want to see his team get back into contention and the visit of Celtic is sure to be an interesting prospect.

As for Celtic’s involvement at this level of European football, well, they are some way behind their peak, which undoubtedly came around during the late 1960s and early 70s when the era of the Lisbon Lions was born. Goals from Tommy Gemmell and Stevie Chalmers saw Celtic secure that famous comeback win over Inter Milan in Lisbon, and three seasons later, they once again returned to the final, this time losing to Feyenoord at the San Siro, Gemmell having opened the scoring on that occasion.

In 1971/72, they battled through to the Semi-Finals of the European Cup, but in the UEFA Champions League, it’s been chiefly about just trying to firstly get through qualifying rounds to the main group phase and then looking to somehow finish in the top two, achievements that have both proven problematic over the past two decades. 2006/07 & 2007/08 saw back-to-back Round of 16 losses to AC Milan and FC Barcelona, respectively, while 2012/13 saw Juventus do likewise. In 2022/23, they managed just two points from their six games and, therefore, could not even derive the comfort that comes with a third-place demotion to the UEFA Europa League.

Manchester United vs Celtic Head-to-Head

The first time these two met in Europe was in 2006/07 when they were in the same group, and the home encounter produced something of a classic. The gloriously named Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink put the Glasgow side ahead after 20 minutes before Louis Saha struck twice. Stylish Japanese midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura leveled on 43 minutes before Solskjaer scored the winner early in the second half.

The return fixture at Celtic Park resulted in a memorable win for the Bhoys, with Nakamura putting away a superb free-kick with ten minutes left to play. Two years later, they were once again drawn against each other in the group phase, and this time, Manchester United easily overcame their opponents, beating them 3-0 at home with Dimitar Berbatov scoring twice and Wayne Rooney scoring the third. In Glasgow, Scott McDonald gave Celtic the lead, but Ryan Giggs equalized with six minutes left to play, and Sir Alex Ferguson’s side went on to win the competition that season, thanks to John Terry’s infamous penalty miss in Moscow.

Manchester United vs Celtic Connections

There are countless connections between Manchester United and Celtic, with the two teams experiencing something of a kinship, which is a tad ironic given that their greatest-ever manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, is a former Rangers star.

Among the players to have represented both clubs are Brian McClair, Dion Dublin, Henrik Larsson, Liam Miller, and Lou Macari.

Another star to have donned both shirts is Roy Keane. The Irish midfielder moved from Nottingham Forest to Manchester United for a then-British record transfer fee in 1993, and he went on to become a legend for the club, captaining them for nine years. He made a total of 480 appearances for the club and scored 51 goals. He led the team to seven Premier League titles, four FA Cups as well as the UEFA Champions League in 1999. He left Old Trafford to join Celtic in 2005 and played one season with the club, making just 13 appearances and helping the team to a league Scottish Premiership title and a League Cup success before he retired from the game.