Lincoln Red Imps F.C. 1–0 Celtic F.C.
Lincoln Red Imps vs Celtic was a football match played on 12 July 2016 at Victoria Stadium, Gibraltar. The match was a UEFA Champions League second qualifying round tie between Lincoln Red Imps, the champions of the 2015–16 Gibraltar Premier Division and Celtic, winners of the 2015–16 Scottish Premiership. The result, a 1–0 victory for Lincoln, is considered one of the greatest shocks in European football, and has been described by some media outlets as possibly Celtic's most humiliating defeat, dubbing it the Shock of Gibraltar.
.jpg.webp) Aerial view of Victoria Stadium, Gibraltar | |||||||
| Event | 2016–17 UEFA Champions League second qualifying round – First leg | ||||||
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| Date | 12 July 2016 | ||||||
| Venue | Victoria Stadium, Gibraltar | ||||||
| Referee | Andreas Ekberg (Sweden) | ||||||
| Attendance | 1,632 | ||||||
At the time, the Gibraltar Premier Division was among the lowest-ranked football leagues in the UEFA coefficient, partly due to Gibraltarian clubs only participating in UEFA competition since 2014–15, while in the previous season Celtic had competed in the Group Stage of the Europa League.
Build-up
After victory in the 2015–16 Gibraltar Premier Division, Lincoln Red Imps under Uruguayan coach Julio César Ribas went into the tie having won 14 successive league titles, equaling a European record. As one of the lowest ranked teams in the UEFA Champions League, they entered in the first qualifying round where they faced Estonian side FC Flora. Despite a 2–1 defeat in Tallinn, a 2–0 victory in Gibraltar sent them through to the second qualifying round to face Celtic.[1]
Celtic themselves had been on a run of 6 successive Scottish titles, however, after a disappointing season in cup competition, head coach Ronny Deila resigned[2] and was replaced by former Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers.[3] As Celtic received a bye to the second qualifying round, the tie against Lincoln Red Imps was his first competitive game in charge of The Bhoys.
Match
In Lincoln's matchday squad, 8 players were at the time full internationals for the Gibraltar national football team. Starting up front was Lee Casciaro, who scored Gibraltar's first ever competitive goal in a 6–1 victory for Scotland at Hampden Park in March 2015.[4] Celtic's starting 11 contained the previous season's top scorer Leigh Griffiths as well as new signing Moussa Dembélé in attack. The first half saw the visitors dominate possession yet the artificial surface at Victoria Stadium meant that they struggled to carve out any clear cut chances. Despite a disallowed goal from Moussa Dembélé after a foul on Raúl Navas, the two sides went in goalless at half-time.
In the second half, Celtic's slow start was quickly punished when Lee Casciaro latched onto a through ball from midfield, outsmarting Efe Ambrose before firing a low shot past Craig Gordon. Shortly afterwards, Antonio Calderon fired a shot over the crossbar while Celtic were still reeling from going behind. The introductions of James Forrest, Stuart Armstrong and Nadir Çiftçi failed to turn the tide in favour of Celtic, however, as Griffiths could only strike the crossbar twice as Lincoln held out for a shock victory.[5]
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Aftermath
Immediately after the match, many sports media outlets described it as one of Celtic's most embarrassing defeats, as well as one of the greatest shocks in European football history: The Scotsman described Celtic's defeat as a "humiliation", whilst The Guardian dubbed the result as "The Shock of Gibraltar".[6][7] However, in spite of the result, Celtic went on to win the return leg 3–0 at Celtic Park.[8]
Over the course of the rest of the season, Celtic would only go on to lose four more times; to Hapoel Be'er Sheva, Borussia Mönchengladbach and Barcelona twice, all also in the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League. The Bhoys went undefeated domestically and won the domestic treble in Brendan Rodgers' first season in charge. Speaking in 2019, Celtic's then-captain Scott Brown bemoaned the build-up to the game, as well as the condition of the pitch. He claimed that the result left a "scar" on the club.[9]
Conversely, Lincoln's fortunes declined after the defeat to Celtic in the second leg. After losing talisman Liam Walker to arch-rivals Europa followed by a defeat in the Pepe Reyes Cup, Lincoln found themselves locked in a tight championship race with Europa that eventually saw the Greens come out on top on the last day. The miserable season was compounded when Europa defeated Lincoln in the 2017 Rock Cup final, to win a domestic treble of their own.[10]
See also
References
- Armstrong, Gary (20 June 2016). "Who are Lincoln Red Imps? All you need to know about Celtic's Champions League opponents". Daily Record. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
- "Ronny Deila: Celtic manager to leave club in summer". BBC Sport. 20 April 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
- "Celtic name Brendan Rodgers as new manager". Celtic F.C. 20 May 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
- Lamont, Alasdair (29 March 2015). "Scotland 6–1 Gibraltar". BBC Sport. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
- Donohoe, Eamonn (12 July 2016). "Lincoln Red Imps 1–0 Celtic". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
- "Lincoln Red Imps 1 – 0 Celtic: Stunning upset in Rodgers' first match". The Scotsman. 12 July 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
- "Shock of Gibraltar: is Celtic's defeat by Lincoln Red Imps their worst ever?". The Guardian. 12 July 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
- McLaughlin, Chris (20 July 2016). "Celtic 3–0 Lincoln Red Imps". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
- Scott Brown opens up on infamous Celtic loss to Lincoln Red Imps 67 Hail Hail. 27 May 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
- "Kike the star as Europa win Gibtelecom Rock Cup". Football Gibraltar. 28 May 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2017.