The subject of Celtic’s famous victory over Barcelona came up in a recent discussion with Fraser Forster.
The former Hoops goalkeeper was the guest on Tottenham Hotspur’s official ‘Off The Shelf’ podcast this week. Together, with the hosts, he reflected on his career including his five-year stint in Scotland over two spells.
After talking up the size of Celtic, the conversation inevitably moved on to the night we saw off the might of Barcelona. It was the 2012/13 UEFA Champions League, and Forster played a starring role as we defeated the Catalan giants 2-1 in Glasgow. It’s arguably the second-greatest win in our entire history.
In 2015, Lionel Messi looked back on the game and praised Forster’s performance, saying: “There was one game in Scotland where he was not human, it is the best goalkeeping performance I have seen.” (The Scotsman)
Those quotes were put to the Englishman on the podcast, and he could hardly hide his smile.
“It’s always nice when it’s someone in the game,” he said. “It carries a lot more weight.
“I’ve got a signed Messi shirt [from that game]. That is probably my favourite.
“It’s impossible to put into words. We played them away two weeks earlier and lost 2-1 in the last minute. That performance really carried us into the home one because we knew we’d have the fans with us.
“It was just one of those nights. When you make a couple of saves you feel good. That [Barcelona] team as well. If you don’t enjoy playing those games, come on.
“It was just one of those days when you’re in the zone and everything goes your way. You’re seeing the ball as if it’s a gym ball. I didn’t sleep after that game.” (Tottenham Hotspur)
I hadn’t actually come across those Messi comments before or certainly didn’t recall them. There was also apparently a mention in there of Barcelona looking to sign Forster at one stage. That would have been pretty crazy.
As it is, the Englishman is now with Spurs and struggling for some game time under Ange Postecoglou. It would be great to see him playing more regularly soon.
In other news, Saidy Janko has an interesting reason why he didn’t make it at Celtic
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