Nearly 48 years on, the ghosts of the Lisbon Lions and Grande Inter still live on.
On May 25, 1967 in Portugal, Celtic faced Inter in the European Cup Final.
Though neither team are currently what they were just a few short seasons ago — or 1967 for that matter — the duo are still two of the biggest names in European football.
These days many consider Serie A a weaker league than it once was. If that is true, the Scottish Premier League is a shell of its former self as well. But at one time, these two leagues produced the teams that contested one of the 1960s most memorable and still — especially in Scotland — talked about finals.
Entering the 1967 European Cup Final, Inter had won the illustrious trophy in back-to-back season from 1963 to 1965. Missing out on the 1965-66 final after losing to eventual winners Real Madrid in the semi-finals.
Back then, the European Cup was a tournament of dynasties as until 1981, eight clubs had won the title on more than one occasion. Along with city rivals AC Milan, the Milanese clubs led a three-year Italian dominance in the tournament.
That Inter teams were overseen by the father of catenaccio Helenio Herrera and legendary president Angelo Moratti, father of future Inter president Massimo Moratti.
Unlike Inter, Celtic had never won European football’s most prestigious prize. Nor have they or any other Scottish team won it since. The club were led by legendary coach Jock Stein who, like Herrera, ran a tight ship.
The 1967 final would be the bar to which Stein and Celtic would hold themselves for years to come as the Glasgow team became the first British team to hoist the European Cup. For Inter, it became the beginning of a long European Cup drought that didn’t end until 2009-10, when Jose Mourinho’s side marched to the title.
The final itself took place in Lisbon, at the Estadio Nacional. Nowadays, the stadium resembles those old fashioned athletic track stadiums that hosted many big football matches before money flooded the game.
A reported 70,000 fans turned out to see the final and Inter fans were the happier of the two sides’ supporters early on.
Inter forward Renato Cappelini was taken down inside the penalty area by Celtic’s Jim Craig. Inter and Italy legend Sandro Mazzola converted the penalty and the Nerazzurri were off and running after only seven minutes.
Inter held firmly to their lead until the hour mark. After the Nerazzurri goal, Herrera’s men pulled back into their usual defensive style, putting nine men behind the ball. Despite reverting to a defensive shell, Celtic created plenty of opportunities.
The Hoops’ Bertie Auld hit the crossbar and Jimmy Johnstone had a header saved by Inter goalkeeper Giuliano Sarti, as Celtic pried at the verrou-style (door-bolt) formation.
Finally, after 63 minutes Celtic were level. Left-back Tommy Gemmell, who had been troubling Sarti for some time, scored from 25-yards as Celtic smothered Inter.
The Nerazzurri had been pressed back for some time and Mazzola and company found a counterattack increasingly hard to find. Inter held on but, with 84 minutes gone, Celtic found the go-ahead goal.
Centre-forward Stevie Chalmers redirected a Bobby Murdoch shot into the Inter goal. Sarti was prepared to save the initial shot from Murdoch but the ball was shot with power, and Chalmers’ split-second reaction helped beat the keeper.
The two sides that meet in the Europa League on February 19 and 26 are still a good distance away from a cup final.
Yet, the fans and ghosts of the 1967 final will remember when the Lisbon Lions took down Herrera’s Grande Inter. Rather than a culminating win, perhaps it will be a win to propel Celtic or Inter to a trophy.
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