Ajax and Celtic revive memories

Johan Cruyff inspired Ajax to victory in 1971

BBC Sport Online's Clive Lindsay looks back at previous European Cup encounters between Ajax and Celtic.

Celtic's meeting with Ajax in the Champions League will bring back memories of when they were members of Europe's elite.

And they collide with both clubs attempting to revive their fortunes after several years in the doldrums.

But only one will progress past the third qualifying round in August.

They have met twice before in the European Cup, with each recording an aggregate victory.

The first came in season 1970-71, when Johan Cruyff et al won the first leg of their quarter-final 3-0 in Amsterdam.

Jimmy Johnstone scored a consolation

A year earlier, Celtic had lost 2-1 in the tournament's final to another Dutch side, Feyenoord.

The Scots, who three seasons earlier had become the first British club to win the trophy, admitted later that they had underestimated their opponents.

There were no such excuses about not realising the emerging strength of Dutch football when they faced Ajax in Amsterdam.

But Jock Stein's men could still not handle an outfit inspired by Cruyff, who soon went on to megastar status worldwide.

Celtic managed a 1-0 win in the second leg in Glasgow thanks to a goal from Jimmy Johnstone.

But it was the Dutch side who marched on to defeat Greeks Panathinaikos 2-0 in the final.

Billy McNeill with the European Cup

That marked the start of a three-year domination of Europe's premier club trophy by Cruyff's side.

Celtic were in the middle of their own nine-in-a-row monopoly of the Scottish league title.

They went on to reach the semi-finals twice more and the quarter-final once.

But Celtic have not reached such lofty heights since 1975/76.

The two clubs were next drawn together in the first round in 1982 and this time it was the Scots who progressed.

Charlie Nicholas and Frank McGarvey scored the Celtic goals in a 2-2 draw in Glasgow.

George McCluskey scored the 1982 winner

That left Ajax favourites to go through, but Nicholas's opener and George McCluskey's last-gasp goal gave Celtic a 2-1 win.

Ajax won the European Cup again in 1995 and lost on penalties to Italians Juventus in the final in Rome a year later.

But, in recent years, Dutch football, and the Scottish game too, has been the victim of the increasing domination of the Champions League by clubs from Italy, Germany and Spain.

Greater television money has given clubs from the larger countries such an overwhelming advantage that Ajax and Celtic have been among those pushing for an Atlantic League to help strengthen the bargaining power of those from smaller nations.

Even in their own countries, the pair have been overshadowed in recent years by traditional rivals Rangers, PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord.

Martin O'Neill's Celtic broke Rangers' stranglehold on the Scottish title last season.

Cristian Chivu: in the present Ajax side

Ajax, meanwhile, finished third, a country mile behind champions PSV.

Yet they still retain a rich seam of talent.

Aron Winter is in the twilight of his career following his return from Inter Milan and shares the midfield with fellow Dutch international Richard Witschge.

Defender Cristian Chivu is a star of the Romanian international team.

This year, Ajax have brought in Egyptian international forward Ahmed Hossam and Brazilian striker Maxwell.

Yet they are far from being the force they once were and Henrik Larsson and his Celtic men will certainly have been relieved to have avoided the likes of Barcelona or Liverpool in Friday's draw.