Atletico Madrid captain Koke defended the club’s “great gesture” in using their return to Parkhead to pay tribute to the side that beat Celtic in controversial circumstances in 1974.
Atletico will wear a retro strip which matches the style worn by the team that beat Celtic in the European Cup semi-finals.
The side are heroes for the Spanish club, having gone on to win the Intercontinental Cup against Argentina’s Independiente despite losing the European Cup final against Bayern Munich.
But they are viewed as villains by Celtic fans and former players. Atletico had three players sent off and seven others booked as they battled their way to a goalless first-leg draw in Glasgow with Jimmy Johnstone in particular subjected to some vicious fouls.
Police intervened in some post-match clashes between players and Celtic advised fans not to travel to Spain for the second leg, which they lost 2-0, amid reports of death threats for Johnstone and manager Jock Stein.
Two of the players from that team, Ramon Heredia and Francisco Melo, travelled on the club flight to Glasgow for Wednesday’s Champions League game. Both were booked on their previous trip to Celtic Park.
When asked about the controversy the choice of strip had sparked, Koke said: “It’s an important thing for the club, but that was 50 years ago, so while it is good to have those people with us and memories are a big part of football, it is a completely different game now.
“We are just focused on the game. It doesn’t really matter what colour of shirts we are wearing, they could be red or they could be red and white.
“It’s not so important for what happens in the game what jersey we wear, the most important thing is what happens on the pitch.
“But it’s a great gesture from the club and it’s an important part of the club’s history, what happened 50 years ago.”
Manager Diego Simeone brushed off suggestions, from the Spanish media, that the tribute might be seen as an inflammatory move.
“People can interpret things any way they want,” he said. “Wednesday is just about the opposition. Celtic is a tough rival, with some really strong players. I really admire the way they play football and it is going to be a tough game.
“In their games against Lazio and Feyenoord, especially in the first 60-70 minutes, they played at a really high tempo. They are good in transition and have a strong system that they stuck to.
“They will press you in your own half and playing here, it is a really historic stadium.
“As well as the history of 1974, my father told me about 1967 when they played Racing Club (in the Intercontinental Cup). It’s a huge club. One of the most famous in the world.”
Simeone was also asked by a Spanish journalist about a headline over their strip choice in the Scottish press which read ‘Pathetico Madrid’.
“Newspapers will have their headlines but what matters to me is the stadium, the history and the crowd,” he said.
Kane gunning for Lewandowski's single-season Bundesliga goal record
Harry Kane has his eyes set on Robert Lewandowski's single-season Bundesliga goal record after scoring twice in Bayern Munich's 2-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt, though he knows he needs "to get a move on".
Kane scored in both halves on Saturday to take his tally to 42 goals this season across all competitions, also reaching the 400-goal mark at senior level for clubs and country.
The striker scored 280 of those goals for Tottenham, holding the honour of being the club's all-time leading scorer, while he is also the most prolific player in England history with 62 goals for the Three Lions.
With 35 goals in 31 Bundesliga appearances this season, Kane now has his eyes set on another piece of history.
Former Bayern striker Robert Lewandowski holds the record for the most goals scored in a single Bundesliga campaign, netting 41 times in 2020-21.
Asked about the possibility of breaking that record with just three games remaining in Bayern's league campaign, Kane said: "It's possible, but obviously I have to get a move on!
"I've got to maybe score a few goals next week. It's there, it's in touching distance.
"It depends on the last few games of course, but it was nice to add to it today and score a couple of goals to help the team."
Bayern next host Real Madrid in the first leg of a Champions League semi-final tie on Tuesday, before travelling to face Stuttgart on Saturday.
Pochettino says VAR 'damaging' English football as Chelsea denied Villa win
Mauricio Pochettino claimed VAR is "damaging" English football after Chelsea saw a potential winning goal chalked off at the end of their 2-2 Premier League draw with Aston Villa.
Despite a bright performance, Chelsea found themselves 2-0 down at half-time on Saturday with Marc Cucurella putting through his own net before Morgan Rogers added Villa's second.
Goals from Noni Madueke and Conor Gallagher dragged Chelsea level as they penned Villa back after the break, but the Blues were enraged in stoppage time when Axel Disasi saw a potential winner ruled out.
Disasi headed home in the fifth minute of stoppage time to spark wild celebrations among the visiting Chelsea fans, only for referee Craig Pawson to disallow the goal following a pitchside VAR review, ruling Benoit Badiashile pushed Diego Carlos in the build-up.
With that incident coming just one week after Chelsea were denied a penalty in their FA Cup semi-final loss to Manchester City despite Jack Grealish appearing to handle Cole Palmer's free-kick, Pochettino has had enough.
"Everyone that was watching the game will feel disappointed. The referee said it was a foul and disallowed the goal after going to the VAR to confirm," he told TNT Sports.
"The referee is unbelievable and it's ridiculous. It is difficult to accept these types of things. In the semi-final it was handball and it was no penalty, the referee didn't check it.
"It is painful as it has damaged English football and I think Villa players and their fans didn't understand why the goal was disallowed.
"They said it was a foul and if you see the challenge… if we go into every single challenge like this and it is going to be a foul, we wouldn't finish the game with 11 players.
"We can talk about the performance or the decision – it is damaging the game."
Pochettino had no complaints about Chelsea's performance, though, as they avoided defeat for just the fourth time in 51 Premier League games when trailing by two or more goals at half-time.
The Blues previously achieved that feat in a 3-3 draw with Sheffield Wednesday in 1992, a memorable 2-2 draw with Tottenham in 2016 and another 3-3 draw with West Brom in 2020.
Chelsea racked up 21 shots to Villa's nine and put up 1.57 expected goals (xG) to the hosts' 1.1, with Nicolas Jackson and Palmer spurning glorious chances in either half.
"The performance was very good," Pochettino said. "We played really well and it is true in the first half we conceded too easily.
"To play Villa, who are fighting for the top four, I am pleased with the team. Now, we have to move on and the headlines will be about the disallowed goal."
New England Revolution 1-4 Inter Miami: Messi at the double as Herons run riot
Lionel Messi scored twice and laid on a goal for Luis Suarez as Inter Miami retained their three-point lead at the Eastern Conference summit with a 4-1 win over the New England Revolution.
A franchise-record crowd of 65,612 people witnessed a flying start from the Revs as they took the lead within just 37 seconds at Gillette Stadium. Carles Gil pounced on some sloppy play from Miami to tee up Tomas Chancalay, who lobbed Drake Callender for the opener.
However, Miami roared back with Messi leading from the front. They had a deserved equaliser just after the half-hour mark, Messi slotting home after latching onto Robert Taylor's throughball.
Messi had his second after 67 minutes, producing another composed finish after former Barcelona team-mate Sergio Busquets split the New England backline.
Messi was involved in another two goals as Miami added some gloss to the scoreline late on; his first-time shot was saved by Henrich Ravas but Benjamin Cremaschi was on hand to score on the rebound after 83 minutes, then the Argentine teed up Suarez for a curled finish five minutes later.
Miami stay three points clear of Supporters' Shield holders FC Cincinnati at the top of the East, with the Orange and Blue keeping pace by beating the Colorado Rapids 2-1 on Saturday.
Data Debrief: Messi rolls back the years
Ahead of Saturday's game, some feared Miami boss Gerardo Martino would opt to rest Messi after speaking of the risks of fielding the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner on New England's artificial pitch.
However, Messi came through 90 minutes with another mesmerising performance. He has now recorded a goal involvement in 10 straight club matches for the seventh time in his glittering career, last doing so for Barcelona between September and December in 2018.
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