BEATING Celtic was Lincoln Red Imps very own Barcelona night – only much, much bigger.
Liam Walker, whose long pass led to the goal for Lee Casciaro, now the Tony Watt of Gibraltar, believes his side’s stunning victory to be one of the best results of all-time for a European minnow.
And in the cold light of day of the 1-0 win at Victoria Park, it is hard to argue with his assessment.
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“This is the biggest ever result in Gibraltar football history,” said Walker. “It doesn’t get any bigger than beating Celtic in the Champions League. It’s dream come true stuff.
“Celtic play in the Champions League most seasons. They beat Barcelona not so long ago - but this is bigger than that for us. I remember watching that game and thinking it was an amazing result. But this is probably an even bigger shock to be honest.
“We’re just a small team from Gibraltar. We’ve only been playing in Europe for three years. There are guys in the team who were working on the day of the game. It’s incredible when you think about it.
“No matter what happens now we’ve made history. It will go down as one of the great results in football. Lincoln’s name will now go all over the world. We’ve really put the club on the map.”
It says a lot for the predictability of Celtic, even so early into the reign of Brendan Rodgers, that the Red Imps knew exactly what to do in a bid to stifle the Scottish champions.
Walker revealed: “We worked so hard. We had a game plan and stuck to it and deserved the result. I knew that kind of pass was there as Lee has a bit of pace and can get in behind. It was something we spoke about. I was delighted to pick him out and it was a brilliant finish.
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“The bounce of the ball is obviously a bit different than when it’s on grass and it managed to check to allow him to run on to it. It was an amazing moment. It was like time stood still. We were just buzzing when it went in.”
And now to the second-leg at Celtic Park. One thing is for sure, the gutsy band of part-time players will not overawed about coming to Glasgow. Why should they be?
Walker said: “Can we get through? Of course we can. We showed the other night that anything is possible. Listen, Celtic are a massive club and we all know it’s going to be really hard work for us.
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“The stadium will probably be full for the manager’s first home game but we’ll give it a good go. It will be an incredible experience and if we pull it off it will be even bigger than winning the first leg.”
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