Celtic being their UEFA Champions League campaign for the 2024/25 season tonight (Wednesday, September 18) against SK Slovan Bratislava. Celtic Park, as you might expect, will be rocking.
In doing so, Brendan Rodgers' men will attempt to create history by winning their opening group phase match for the first time.
The Scottish champions' recent record in the European arena is nothing to write home about. However, that wasn't always the case.
The Celtic Way's Tony Haggerty has delved into the club archive and ranked 10 of the best Champions League nights at Paradise when a trip to Glasgow's east end was to be feared and football legends left with nothing but their tail between their legs.
10. Celtic 2 - 1 Feyenoord
UEFA Champions League group stage
December 13, 2023
Matchday Six
Celtic... 2
(Palma 33, Lagerbielke 90+1)
Feyenoord... 1
(Minteh 82)
Gustaf Lagerbielke's injury-time header delivers Celtic's first Champions League home win in 10 years The Swede nods in Matt O'Riley's stunning cross at the back post to end Celtic's six-year wait for a win in the competition.
Luis Palma's first-half penalty had given Brendan Rodgers' side the lead before Yankuba Minteh had equalised with just eight minutes left on the clock. The game may be viewed as a dead rubber but it was an important win for Celtic as they got a significant Champions League monkey off their back. Celtic Park goes wild as they appreciate what it means to Rodgers and his side.
9. Celtic 3 - 0 Shakhter Karagandy
UEFA Champions League qualifier
August 28, 2013
Celtic... 3
(Commons 45, Samaras 48, Forrest 90)
Shakhter Karagandy... 0
Celtic somehow find themselves 2-0 down after a dreadful first leg in Kazakhstan. Karagandy is 320th in the UEFA rankings and would have become the lowest-ranked club to progress to the group stages of the Champions League had they seen it through. It is the first time a Kazakh side has played at Celtic Park.
However, goals by Kris Commons, Georgios Samaras and a 90th-minute counter from James Forrest spare the blushes as Lennon's men book their spot in the Champions League group stages proper. The mad celebrations are borne out of relief more than anything else but you can't beat a late winner on a European night at Celtic Park.
8. Celtic 1 - 1 Spartak Moscow
UEFA Champions League qualifier
August 29, 2007
Celtic...1
(McDonald 27)
Spartak Moscow... 1
(Pavluchenko 45)
Celtic win 4-3 on penalties
Celtic book a spot in the Champions League group stages but only just after a nerve-shredding 90 minutes against the Russians. McDonald claimed his first Celtic goal to put the hosts 2-1 up on aggregate but Roman Pavluchenko equalised on the stroke of half-time.
The same player then slams a penalty off the post and Jan Venegoor of Hesselink fires a late spot-kick off the crossbar. It goes to a dreaded penalty shootout where Celtic number one Boruc saves two and becomes the hero. Gary Caldwell, Vennegoor of Hesselink, Derek Riordan and Maciej Zurawski are on target for Celtic as Boruc denies Titov and Maxim Kalinichenko for a 4-3 penalty victory.
Celtic Park erupts and the match is best remembered for a still of Celtic legend Tommy Burns flying through the air to join the first-team squad pile-on celebrations.
7. Celtic 2 - 1 Shakhtar Donetsk
UEFA Champions League group stage
November 28, 2007
Matchday Five
Celtic... 2
(Jarosik 45, Donati 90)
Shakhtar Donetsk... 1
(Brandao 4)
Celtic somehow recovered from an early setback to defeat Shakhtar Donetsk with goals in the 45th and 90th minutes. Brandao gives the Ukrainians an early lead but Jiri Jarosik enjoys a Celtic career high when he blasts home a beauty of a leveller into the top corner.
Italian midfielder Massimo Donati then enjoys a similar career moment when his deflected effort ends up in the net during added-on time. Celtic Park goes berserk as Strachan's men put themselves in contention for back-to-back qualifications for the last 16.
6. Celtic 2 - 0 Lyon
UEFA Champions League group stage
September 30, 2003
Matchday Two
Celtic... 2
(Miller 70. Sutton 78)
Lyon... 0
Celtic keep their qualification dreams alive with a fine 2-0 win over Olympique Lyonnais at Parkhead. Two headed goals by Liam Miller and Sutton both assisted by Larsson put the French outfit to the sword. Miller's goal is a thing of beauty which involves a long sequence of possession passes and ITV co-commentator David Pleat insists that you won't see a finer goal scored in European competition all season.
Miller's opener brings the roof of Celtic Park as O'Neill's men claim a notable European scalp. If you could bottle such nights then you'd sell them by the bucketload.
5. Celtic 3 - 3 Manchester City
UEFA Champions League group stage
September 28, 2016
Matchday Two
Celtic... 3
(Dembele 3, 47, Tierney 20)
Manchester City... 3
(Fernandinho 11, Sterling 28, Nolito 55)
On a barnstorming night in Glasgow, Celtic and Manchester City serve up a feast of football. Rodgers Celtic are the first team to take points off Guradiola's City in any competition after they had won their last 10 matches on the spin. Moussa Dembele gets the ball rolling for Celtic in just three minutes.
Fernandinho equalised for the Citizens before Kieran Tierney restored Celtic's lead. It is wiped out by Raheem Sterling. Dembele makes it 3-2 to Celtic with an acrobatic effort two minutes after the restart but Nolito ensures the six-goal thriller ends up all square when he ties the incredible match for a third time.
Celtic Park is rocking on an unforgettable European night that will in the words of Mancunian band Oasis 'Live Forever'.
4. Celtic 2 - 1 AC Milan
UEFA Champions League group stage
October 3, 2007
Matchday Two
Celtic... 2
(McManus 62, McDonald 90)
AC Milan... 1
(Kaka 69 pen)
Celtic defeated AC Milan for the first time in their history as goals by Stephen McManus and a last-minute counter by Aussie Scott McDonald sparked bedlam in the stands. A Celtic fan runs on and slaps Milan goalkeeper Dida and the hosts fear all sorts of repercussions.
UEFA fined Celtic £10,000 and Dida is banned for his playacting antics. The match was notable because it was McDonald's first-ever European goal. Strachan's men do a number on the Champions League holders as Celtic honour George Connelly who is back at Celtic Park. Kaka's 69th-minute penalty goal is the first ever scored at Celtic Park (excluding shootouts) in a European tie.
3. Celtic 4 - 3 Juventus
UEFA Champions League group stage
October 31, 2001
Matchday Six
Celtic... 4
(Valgaeren 24, Sutton 45, 64, Larsson 57 pen)
Juventus... 3
(Del Piero 19, Trezeguet 51, 77)
Martin O'Neill's Celtic prove that they can compete at Champions League level in this humdinger with Marcello Lippi's Juventus. The Italians were already through and Celtic needed a result in another group match to go their way to qualify, but it didn’t as Porto defeated Rosenberg, which meant Celtic were out. In 2012, UEFA tagged this as a classic match.
Amazingly, Celtic crashed out of the tournament after finishing in third spot and dropped into the UEFA Cup having amassed a then-record nine points. On a wonderful night at G40, Del Piero gives Juve the lead but Joos Valgareren equalised before Chris Sutton headed Celtic into the lead. David Trezeguet levels to make it 2-2 but Henrik Larsson restores Celtic's lead from the penalty spot before Sutton fires home an unstoppable volley. There is still, time for Trezeguet to reduce the arrears but Celtic holds on for a famous victory even though it turns out to be a pyrrhic one.
2. Celtic 1 - 0 Manchester United
UEFA Champions League group stage
November 25, 2006
Matchday Five
Celtic... 1
(Nakamura 81)
Manchester United... 0
Celtic edged through to the knockout phase of the Champions League for the first time in their history with a game to spare thanks to a wonderful Shunsuke Nakamura free-kick and a last-minute penalty save from Artur Boruc who denied Louis Saha.
The Japanese star curled a sweet 30-yard strike into the top corner after 81 minutes before Saha saw his spot-kick beaten away by Boruc. Naka scores one of the greatest free-kicks that a Parkhead crowd has ever seen on another magical European night for Celtic as Gordon Strachan gets one over on his former managerial mentor Sir Alex Ferguson.
1. Celtic 2 - 1 Barcelona
UEFA Champions League group phase
November 7, 2012
Matchday Four
Celtic... 2
(Wanyama 21, Watt 83)
Barcelona... 1
(Messi 90)
It's a date that is etched in the minds of every Celtic supporter - 7th November 2012. The greatest team in the world were felled by Neil Lennon's men as Celtic celebrated their 125th anniversary of the meeting at St Mary's in the Calton that led to the formation of the club on November 6th 1887. There was a special Mass held in St Mary's to commemorate that event the day before and Barcelona officials attended.
On the field, Victor Wanyama and Tony Watt write themselves into Celtic folklore as Lennon's men pull off one of the biggest-ever shocks in the competition. Lionel Messi and company can't find a way past Fraser Forester who is christened 'La Gran Muralla' - The Great Wall - by the Spanish press. It is widely regarded as one of the greatest games and nights in Celtic’s European history as the men in green and white defeat arguably one of the best sides of all time.
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