When in Lisbon – Brendan takes Celtic players to Estádio Nacional | OneFootball

The Celtic squad are currently in Portugal’s capital city as part of the club’s pre-season training programme. When in Lisbon every Celtic supporter will naturally take it upon themselves to visit the scene of our club’s greatest ever triumph, and that is of course what our players and coaching staff done yesterday.

Celtic captain Billy McNeill holds aloft the European Cup after Celtic’s 2-1 victory over Inter Milan in the 1967 European Cup Final in Lisbon. Photo Imago.

The Estádio Nacional stadium, a small but picturesque stadium in the southwestern part of the City free from the hustle and bustle that frequents the centre of Lisbon and is something of a Mecca to the Celtic supporters who visit on a daily basis, just about every day of the year.

I’ve been fortunate enough to visit myself and experience that spiritual uplifting and emotional feeling of walking through the famous tunnelled entrance to stand on the very pitch that seen eleven working class lads born within a 30 mile of Glasgow make footballing history in 1967. They would of course become universally known as the Lisbon Lions, the most iconic side in the history of Celtic football club and one of the most famous teams ever in world football.

A visit to the humble dressing rooms just adjacent to the stadium which is a million miles from the luxury surroundings that today’s footballers enjoy, was just as an emotional experience, and it’s a feeling the present squad would have experienced as they took a look round the setting that hosted the greatest ever achievement in the history of the Football club they represent.

Brendan Rodgers along with born and bred Scottish boys such as Callum McGregor, Kieran Tierney, Luke McCowan, James Forrest, Tony Ralston, Ross Doohan, and the many youth players present would have understood the importance of such an arena more than the rest of the squad who come from various corners of the globe, but they will have been well briefed of the importance of the surroundings they toured.

Billy McNeill (Celtic) holds the European Cup in Lisbon on 25 May 1967. Photo imago/Kicker/Metelmann

It was no lucky coincidence that Celtic were in Lisbon, this trip was no after thought, instead it was carefully selected by Brendan Rodgers as part of his build-up to the Champions League play-off matches next month and hopefully thereafter another memorable Champions League group stages campaign.

Yesterday was about setting the scene for that and to explain to the current player what that wonderful Celtic team in the 1960s under Jock Stein managed to achieve on that very pitch, in that stadium and in that heat of Lisbon.

Let’s hope it inspires them to yet more success next season, just as Brendan intends.

Paris Saint-Germain fans respecting The Lisbon Lions at the UEFA Champions League final in Munich against Inter Milan. Photo social media

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