Celtic captain Kelly Clark has revealed feeling as though she was walking in the footsteps of giants as she made her own little bit of club history.
Clark netted Celtic’s first UEFA Women’s Champions League goal in their first win in the competition as they beat Brondby on Wednesday to set up today’s mini-tournament final against Valerenga.
Her Dad was in tears as he called to congratulate her on her goal but Kelly herself was emotional in the moments immediately before kick-off.
“I was calm right up until kick-off but when we were standing in the tunnel, the Celtic fans who had travelled over started to sing the Celtic Song,” she said.
“It just made me think about the Lisbon Lions and what happened in ‘67. To walk out onto the pitch and hear the Champions League music, it felt really emotional. I don’t have the words to explain how I felt. It was just very special.
“The reaction after the game was incredible. I had messages from so many people - family, friends and former team-mates. But to have my Dad crying because of how proud he was, that really showed to me just what it means.
“But I was just lucky. The ball fell kindly to me and I was able to score but I wouldn’t have cared who scored - we just knew how important it was to get the win.”
Celtic’s camp were unanimous in their view to enjoy the aftermath of the game while also preparing for today’s final.
And Fran Alonso has insisted that this is the most formidable forward line that Celtic have come up against.
“This is one of the biggest challenges that we have faced as a team,” he said. “Their front three are excellent - the best we will ever have faced.”
Glasgow City take on Gintra this afternoon as they look to make it to the play-off stage. The Petershill side have substantial pedigree in the tournament having twice made it to the quarter-final stage.
And while City have ambitions of ensuring they are in the group stages, Leanne Ross has insisted that they are taking nothing lightly.
City’s coaching staff watched Gintra in action as they beat Cardiff City to set up today’s game.
“It was good that the coaching staff had the opportunity to go and see them and it means that we can give the players the bigger picture,” said Ross.
“We are certainly not taking it for granted that we have this opportunity.
“If we get through this then we can start to look ahead.
“There might have been a little bit of nerves at the start of the game on Wednesday but the more experience that you have at this level and the more you are able to deal with the challenges that it brings then it can only improve us as a team.”
