Celtic’s love affair with Barca endures

The images of a heaving Celtic Park on Wednesday night as coach Neil Lennon, players and 60,000 fans celebrated the famous Champions League over Barcelona on the club’s 125th anniversary night will long be remembered, but one of the week’s most striking photos was that of Barca stars Xavi Hernández, Lionel Messi and Andrés Iniesta posing with Celtic’s 125-year anniversary kit.

This photo symbolised the close bonds between the two clubs, which have developed over eight meetings in the last decade and was further strengthened this week. A city-centre ‘Fanzone’ was organised for supporters to mingle pre-game and enjoy music from Scottish trad band The Amadans and Catalan folk-pop outfit Els Amics de les Arts, while a Barca executive delegation attended a mass to commemorate Celtic’s anniversary on Tuesday afternoon. Blaugrana fans also played their part in the game’s emotional atmosphere, with many joining in the singing of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ inside the stadium.

On Thursday, Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell thanked the Catalan visitors for helping make the week so memorable.