If we asked you to name a Celta Vigo player from the late nineties or early noughties how would you get on?
The chances are, even if you couldn’t name one, you’re actually very familiar with some former Celticos.
So let’s take a gentle stroll back through time and get nostalgic.
These familiar faces will bring memories flooding back to a simpler time, when tweeting in public would have people looking at you like a nutter, unless you were Bill Oddie.
Claude Makelele
For two years Makelele perfected the Makelele role in front of the Balaidos crowd, allowing the creative talents of Eastern European mavericks Aleksandr Mostovoi and Valery Karpin to flourish.
The Frenchman played in a 3-1 UEFA Cup win against Liverpool in 1998, then a 4-0 win against Juventus in the same competition the following season.
Not only did Makelele shut down Zinedine Zidane, Antonio Conte, Edgar Davids and Alessandro Del Piero, he also found time to score twice past Edwin Van der Sar.
Mido
An argument with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, in which the Egyptian reportedly threw a pair of scissors at the Swede, meant Mido was forced to leave Ajax to join Celta, on loan, in March 2003.
His eight-game loan spell was typically combustible, consisting of four goals, three yellows and one red card.
Celta were impressed, or scared, enough to make Mido’s loan spell permanent but couldn’t meet Ajax’s asking price, meaning the striker joined Marseille instead.
He only topped that four goal tally twice in the remaining ten seasons of his career, so Celta probably dodged a bullet.
Quincy Owusu-Abeyie
For reasons no one can really explain Owusu-Abeyie is something of a cult hero among Arsenal fans.
The same probably can’t be said for Celta fans, who had the pleasure of watching Owusu-Abeyie in the Spanish second division during the 2007/08 season.
Owusu-Abeyie played 21 times, scoring four goals, but missed three weeks of football to play for Ghana at the African Cup of Nations, scoring in the third place play-off.
Sylvinho
Arsenal’s first ever Brazilian, with a penchant for smashing the ball towards goal whenever he got anywhere inside the opposing half, left north London for Celta in 2001.
With Sylvinho in the side Celta finished fifth and fourth, qualifying for the Champions League in 2003.
But the dual responsibility of league and European football were too much for Celta to handle, with Sylvinho’s third season ending in relegation from La Liga and a swift exit to Barcelona.
Benni McCarthy
Like Mido, McCarthy moved from Ajax to Celta, becoming the most expensive African player in world football at the time.
But the South African failed to settle, despite helping the side win the Intertoto Cup in 2000, scoring just eight league goals in four seasons at the club.
He was saved by Jose Mourinho who twice signed him on loan for Porto, with whom he won two league titles, three cups and a Champions League medal.
If you’ve got a spare minute it’s worth re-watching McCarthy’s header against United on the way to Porto’s Champions League success. You won’t regret it.
