Blackburn leave Paradise beaten but full of bluster, that was a bad mistake

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The Celtic Star

·31 octobre 2024

Blackburn leave Paradise beaten but full of bluster, that was a bad mistake

On this Day in 2002 Celtic beat Blackburn while not being at our best to set up an intriguing game at Ewood Park…

Celtic 1 Blackburn Rovers 0. UEFA Cup, 31 October 2002. Photo The Celtic Wik

Twenty-two years ago today we played host to Blackburn Rovers in the UEFA Cup second round first leg at a packed Paradise.

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A game everyone was looking forward to

It was a game that everyone was looking forward to, with the usual ‘Battle of Britain’ tag used to hype the game by the media. Blackburn Rovers also happened to be managed by that loathsome arrogant blue-nose Graeme Souness and that certainly added some extra spice to the tie.

Celtic 1 Blackburn Rovers 0. UEFA Cup, 31 October 2002. Photo The Celtic Wiki

Blackburn were a decent side

Blackburn at that time were a very decent side, although not as fearsome as the side who won the EPL title seven years earlier under the guidance of former Celtic legend Kenny Dalglish.

The brilliant strike partnership of Chris Sutton (who was now of course at Celtic) and Alan Shearer was a thing of the past, but they now had the superb strike force of Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole to call upon, so they were hardly devoid of quality.

Celtic 1 Blackburn Rovers 0. UEFA Cup, 31 October 2002. Photo The Celtic Wiki

The game itself was a damp squib devoid of any real action, and we simply didn’t perform on the night. Blackburn had most of the possession without capitalising on it, and Celtic did what all good sides do hit them with a sucker punch.

Henrik Larsson made the difference

The goalscorer was predictably enough, Henrik Larsson who thanks to his predatory instincts was first to react to the ball as he bundled the ball home from close range after Brad Friedel had saved a John Hartson header.

Celtic were victorious when perhaps a draw would have been a fairer result, but like all good sides we won while not playing great.

The trip to Ewood Park two weeks later would certainly be one to relish especially after Blackburn players were shouting their mouths off post match about being a much better team than Celtic and saying it was like men against boys. That would make Henrik swear on national television a fortnight later but he was quickly forgiven!

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