Seventies Euro Specials – Inter Milan v Celtic, 1972

April 2, 2026 · Yahoo Sports

SEVENTIES EURO SPECIALS- INTER MILAN v CELTIC, 1972

The draw for the 1972 European Cup semi-final paired Celtic with Inter Milan. Whilst many Celtic fans were delighted at the prospect of a rematch against the club defeated in Lisbon in 1967, others were angry that Inter were still in the competition.

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On 21 October 1971, Borussia Moenchengladbach hammered Inter 7-1 in the first leg match of the second round in Germany. The match was later annulled because Roberto Boninsegna had allegedly been hit on the head by a full can of Coca-Cola thrown by a German fan in the 29th minute, when Borussia were leading 2-1.

Inter appealed to UEFA after the match and “persuaded” them that the game should be replayed at a neutral venue. The second leg was played as scheduled on 3 November, which Inter won 4-2, and then the replayed first leg took place in Berlin on 1st December, finishing 0-0. The Italians therefore qualified for the quarter final 4-2 on aggregate.

Most neutral fans felt that the German club had been very harshly and unfairly treated, most likely because of undue influence being exerted on UEFA officials by the Italian club.

08 10 2021 Mönchengladbach 1 Rainer Bonhof Vice President Gladbach belonged as a 19 year old in 1971 to the team that beat Inter Milan 7 1 Here he points to the can, which was thrown onto the pitch.Photo IMAGO

“There was a suspicion of corruption over the means by which they had emerged as winners after their second-round tie with Borussia Moenchengladbach and also over Inter’s quarter-final with Standard Liege”, notes Graham McColl, in Celtic in Europe.

In the same book, McColl also notes: “Years later, Sandro Mazzola, a team-mate of Boninsegna, admitted that he had switched a full can of Coca-Cola for the empty one that had landed in the vicinity of Boninsegna.”

Former Celtic manager Jock Stein, standing with trophies and photo of Celtic football club.Circa 1972.

Jock Stein was aware of the Italians’ history of gamesmanship, and this was again evident before the first leg in Milan. Inter had refused to let Celtic have a training session at the San Siro on the day before the game. This was in direct defiance of the UEFA ruling that visiting clubs have such a right. Then, around half an hour before kick off on 5 April 1972, the Celtic players’ warm-up was interrupted by the local police removing the team’s footballs from the field.

Inter’s flouting of UEFA rulings continued when the teams appeared, as the Italians set off rockets and fireworks, some of which exploded on the field. UEFA’s rules clearly applied to some clubs but not to others…

Prior to the match, Celtic were in the middle of a full-blown injury crisis, especially in the full-back position. Danny McGrain was out with a fractured skull, while Davie Hay, Harry Hood, Jimmy Quinn and Dixie Deans were all also unavailable. Jim Brogan was just back from injury and he started in the back four with Craig, McNeill and Connelly.

In midfield were Dalglish, Murdoch and Callaghan, although for most of the match they were joined by Johnstone and Lennox. Only Lou Macari played as an out-and-out striker, supported by Johnstone and Lennox whenever the chance of a counter-attack occurred.

Macari, incidentally, was the focus of huge Italian media attention before the match, who were fascinated by the young Scottish star with Italian ancestry.

Stein’s tactics worked brilliantly. Essentially, Celtic defended in the middle of the field, holding the ball to frustrate Inter and to restrict them from creating many chances. “Celtic played one of the most professional games I have ever seen from them. They had the Inter players chasing shadows as they strung as many as ten passes together at times,”noted Gerry McNee in his 1972 book You’ll Never Walk Alone.

Tommy Callaghan and Evan Williams, Celtic FC. Photo The Celtic Wiki

In the first half, Inter managed to create three dangerous moves which came to nothing. Only the second of these forced Williams into a making a save, when he dived to his left to catch Pellizarro’s shot in mid-air. Inter’s main problem was that their instinctive caution made them unwilling to commit numbers when going forward. Celtic were quite content to focus on giving nothing away, and aim to strike Inter on the break. Despite this approach, The Bhoys won more corners than Inter in the first half but managed only one shot at goal from George Connelly.

From the start of the second half, Inter stepped up the pace and had a couple of chances in the opening minutes. Indeed, for the next thirty minutes – and contrary to their reputation – they produced a fine performance of attacking football which kept Celtic pinned back.

Inter’s most dangerous players were Mazzola and Boninsegna, with the former relied upon to create openings which would be finished by the latter. However, they foundered against Billy McNeill and George Connelly who were both in superb form.

Pat McCluskey in action for Celtic against Rangers at Celtic Park on 5 January 1974. Celtic won 1-0. Photo The Celtic Wiki

After 62 minutes, Jim Brogan’s injury caught up with him, and he had to be taken off. He was replaced by 19 year-old Pat McCluskey, playing in only his third first team match for Celtic. His previous opponents had been Albion Rovers and Ayr United!

McCluskey handled his baptism of fire brilliantly, playing in a composed and controlled fashion. Almost immediately after the change, Jim Craig put Macari in the clear, but his shot was deflected by Burgnich for a corner. The substitution did, however, reduce Celtic’s counter-attacking threat in the remainder of the match as the Bhoys understandably deployed extra men in defence to support the inexperienced McCluskey.

Billy McNeill in Scotland colours – 1972 British Home Championship – Scotland 2 Northern Ireland 0 Scotland’s Billy McNeill at Hampden Park, Glasgow. 20/05/1972. Phot IMAGO (The Celtic Star)

Sergio Pellizzaro had struggled to find or create space all evening, and after 71 minutes he was replaced by Gian Piero Ghio. It made little difference. Celtic’s defence continued to hold firm, with Billy McNeill producing one of his greatest-ever performances. Urged on by their fanatical supporters, Inter continued to press desperately for the goal regarded as essential by their manager Gianni Invernizzi, but they ran out of ideas in the last fifteen minutes of the match.

The first leg finished 0-0 and the home crowd, which had started the match with a crescendo of noise and fireworks, ended the match by turning on their own players and especially on their manager. In complete contrast, Jock Stein was delighted, saying: “There is only one word for that- magnifi¬cent!”He continued: “We are now in the same position as when we last drew in this stadium against AC Milan. Now we can only knock ourselves out.”Stein was referring to the European Cup quarter final three years earlier, when Celtic had secured a 0-0 draw in the first leg, only to lose by a single goal in Glasgow.

The scale of Celtic’s achievement was highlighted by the fact that in their previous EIGHTEEN European Cup matches at the San Siro, Inter had been held to a draw by only TWO other clubs, one of them being Real Madrid. This point was noted by John Rafferty in The Scotsman, who added: “It was brilliant tactical work against the European game’s great tacticians and there was not a weak link anywhere in the Celtic formation.” Raymond Jacobs of the Glasgow Herald was similarly generous in his praise, saying, “Celtic gave a splendid display of concentration and determination—two necessary tactics—here tonight.”

Celtic were now regarded as outstanding favourites to go through to their third European Cup Final. The hard-earned 0-0 draw in Milan set up the Bhoys with a fantastic opportunity to win the tie in Glasgow. However, Stein knew that the Italians would be ultra-defensive in the second leg, prepared even to take the tie to extra-time and penalties.

Celtic would therefore still need to be at their very best if they were to win…

James McDevitt

*Apologies for lack of photos in this article, usually we’d reference the wonderful Celtic Wiki but there is an ongoing issue with their photos at the moment.

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Seventies Euro Specials &#8211; Inter Milan v Celtic, 1972