One manager has described the night that his team knocked Liverpool out of Europe as a ‘big result’ for them.
Martin O’Neill was on punditry duty for Sky Sports‘ Monday Night Football coverage when he was reflecting on the time his Celtic side eliminated the Reds from the UEFA Cup in 2003 courtesy of a 2-0 win at Anfield in the quarter-finals.
The Glasgow giants reached the final of the competition a few weeks later, where they lost to Jose Mourinho’s Porto, coming up just short in the tournament the Merseysiders had won two years previously.
Jamie Carragher played on the night that the Hoops came to Liverpool and won, and he was in studio with the 71-year-old as they cast their minds back 20 years.
O’Neill said of Celtic’s victory at Anfield: “It was a big result for us to take us into the semi-finals, but also a big result for Scottish football as well. We were always being compared unfavourably with the Premier League and Liverpool, as your side were riding so high. This was a big, big result.”
While the late Gerard Houllier’s Reds were disappointing that season, finishing only fifth in the league, that team followed up their 2001 UEFA Cup triumph with Champions League glory under Rafael Benitez only two years after the Scottish club’s success on Merseyside.
It says plenty about Liverpool’s stature in Europe that the managers who eliminate them from continental competition view them as a major scalp, not just at the time but for many years afterwards.
You can catch the clip of Carragher and O’Neill reflecting on Celtic’s win at Anfield below, via @SkySportsPL on YouTube:
"I never felt invincible" ❌
A fascinating chat between @Carra23 and Martin O'Neill on how Martin felt as a manager 👇 pic.twitter.com/F9iJzjq7mO
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 8, 2023