Celtic’s nightmare in Bratislava…

On Wednesday, 27 July 2005, just over two months from the day of his appointment, Gordon Strachan made his competitive debut as Celtic manager in Bratislava in a Champions League second qualifying round tie against Slovakian title-holders Artmedia…

The club from Petrzalka, a southern district of Bratislava on the banks of the River Danube, just a stone’s throw from the Austrian border, had evolved from FC Petrzalka and then through a series of name changes to emerge in 2004 as Artmedia Bratislava, the latest branding reflecting both their advertising agency sponsor and the recently integrated Rapid Bratislava.

Artmedia had won their first-ever Slovak Superliga in 2004/05, thanks largely to 22 goals from star striker Filip Sebo, who would move to Austria Vienna in the close-season and so would miss the imminent ties with Celtic. However, in the remarkably small world that is European football, Sebo would face the Hoops in the colours of Rangers within a year, his name thereafter becoming a byword for wayward shooting at Celtic Park which persists to this day.

With Artmedia’s Stadion Petrzalka failing to meet UEFA standards, the game would be played at Slovan Bratislava’s Tehelne Pole home in the north of the city. This should have been a good omen for Celtic.

In March 1964, the 11 men immortalised in the famous old song, “Celtic, Celtic, that’s the team for me,” had played Slovan there in the quarter-final of the European Cup-Winners’ Cup, defending the slender lead given to them by a late Bobby Murdoch penalty at Parkhead.

Minus key midfielder Jozef Venglos but roared on by a partisan 30,000-strong support, the Slovaks laid siege on the Celtic goal. However, a fine defensive performance by the Bhoys was rewarded with just five minutes remaining, John ‘Yogi’ Hughes picking the ball up at the halfway-line and outstripping several Slovan defenders before slotting the ball past Viliam Schroif in the home goal, to seal a tremendous Celtic victory.

More than 40 years later, in front of just 17,000 spectators, the man facing Gordon Strachan in the home dugout was Vladimir Weiss. Son of a Czech international of the same name from the early 1960s, Weiss had also represented his country, notably as a teammate of Lubo Moravcik as Czechoslovakia progressed to the last eight of Italia ’90 under that same Jozef Venglos.

Weiss had come off the bench for the opening two games in Florence, replacing Lubo for the last few minutes against the USA with the Czechs 4-1 up, before making another late cameo in the single-goal defeat of neighbours Austria. He then started the final group game, against the hosts in Rome’s Stadio Olimpico, making way on the hour mark as a header from Toto Schillaci and a wonderful solo effort from the Devine Ponytail, Roberto Baggio, confirmed that the Italians would qualify as section winners ahead of Czechoslovakia.

Vladimir Weiss was an unused substitute as the Czechs comfortably beat Costa Rica in Bari in the Last 16, Scotland’s Central American conquerors losing by 4-1 with Moravcik again completing the full 90-minutes in the white ‘11’ shirt.

The midfielder had just agreed a transfer from his hometown club FC Nitra to St Etienne in France, and it would be the best part of a decade before Lubo, once infamously described by a well-known Scottish journalist as “a Slovakian has-been,” would light up Celtic Park, having been brought there aged 33 from MSV Duisburg by – yes, you guessed it – Jozef Venglos. A two-footed footballing genius, the Slovakian ‘gift from God’ Moravcik remains an iconic figure for those of us fortunate enough to have witnessed that particular four-year spell towards the end of his career.

Inter Bratislava midfielder Weiss remained on the bench as the Czech’s brave journey ended in the San Siro, a first-half penalty from Lothar Matthaus – the German skipper at that time plying his trade with Inter Milan, so playing in his home stadium – enough to take the favourites through to a tear-filled semi-final with England in Turin and eventual World Cup glory in Rome.

Having started every game in Italy, Lubo Moravcik’s tournament then ended 20 minutes early, the playmaker dismissed when a second yellow card was brandished by the Austrian referee for alleged simulation following a heavy tackle on him in the German box, the little Czech playmaker having picked up a caution in the opening quarter of the match. Lubo left the pitch clutching his left boot and a strong sense of injustice. At 25, it would be his farewell appearance at a major international tournament.

Having returned to Bratislava in 1996 to see out his playing career with the then FC Petrzalka, Vladimir Weiss had remained to cut his coaching teeth with the club, teaming up with one of Lubo Moravcik’s former Nitra colleagues Michal Hipp to steer a rebranded Artmedia to the Slovak Cup in 2004 then the national title the following season.

Their opening tie in the qualifying phase of the 2005/06 Champions League had gone surprisingly well. Seeded second for that round behind cup-holders Liverpool – the Merseyside club having been given special dispensation by UEFA to defend their trophy, despite finishing fifth in the English League – Artmedia drew the lowest-ranked side in the competition, Kairat Almaty of Kazakhstan.

A 2-0 defeat in the first leg in Almaty’s Central Stadium left them with much to do in the return, played at the Slovakian Football Association’s National Training Centre at Senec, 25 kilometres north-east of Bratislava for reasons mentioned above.

However, the Slovaks fought back well to level the tie after 90 minutes before falling behind again in the opening minute of extra-time. An immediate response from the penalty spot, courtesy of Slovak international midfielder Jan Kozak, took the tie to the brink of a shootout for the right to face Celtic in the second round, but Pavol Stano struck in the dying seconds to ensure Artmedia would porogress as 4-1 winners on the night. As a brief aside, Kozak signed for West Bromwich Albion six months later and would later skipper his country.

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Artmedia’s next challenge would be much more daunting, at least on paper anyway. Former European Cup winners Celtic were second seeds behind Liverpool for the second qualifying stage, a tournament co-efficient of 63.5 dwarfing the Slovakians’ 4.850, UEFA Cup runners-up in 2003 and quarter-finalists in the same competition the following year, having knocked out favourites Barcelona.

It was true that the Scottish giants had lost the inspirational Henrik Larsson since then and had struggled in a ‘Group of Death’ in last season’s Champions League, finishing fourth behind AC Milan, Barcelona and Shakhtar Donetsk, however, only a last-minute collapse in Motherwell had forced Celtic to enter at this early stage, having gone directly into the Group phase in 2004/05. It was the proverbial ‘no-contest.’

The Slovakians’ main opportunity to progress would perhaps lie in the timing of the tie, in relation to the massive changes currently taking place at Celtic Park. New Hoops manager Gordon Strachan had worked tirelessly in his initial two months in the role, in trying to pull together and blend a squad comprising the remnants of the Martin O’Neill era with some new recruits.

With only a short pre-season and four friendly games to do so, ahead of the most important phase of the season, Strachan’s task was still very much a work-in-progress. With the dark clouds still hanging over the club following Black Sunday, the departure of a beloved manager and several key top-class players, as I look back at it now, Bratislava was an accident waiting to happen.

Nevertheless, Gordon Strachan was still able to field a side which to most Celtic observers looked well capable of handling the Slovakian champions. Resisting the urge to start his new Polish goalkeeper, Artur Boruc, it would be David Marshall, the hero of the Camp Nou, between the sticks.

The vastly experienced central defensive pairing of Stan Varga and Bobo Balde were both in there, behind a powerful midfield quartet of Stan Petrov, Neil Lennon, Chris Sutton and Alan Thompson.

New signing Maciej Zurawski was partnered up front with John Hartson. If there was a Celtic concern, it was at full-back, where the absence of the departed Jackie McNamara and the injured Didier Agathe meant competitive debuts for Paul Telfer and Mo Camara. This enforced choice would prove critical.

On a hot, balmy Bratislava evening, Gordon Strachan’s green-shirted Celts had made a reasonable start to the match before being dealt the first crushing blow, Chris Sutton coming off worse in a collision with Neil Lennon, a broken cheekbone ending the big Englishman’s participation in proceedings within 15 minutes. Aiden McGeady came off the bench, with Stan Petrov pushed inside, as the Celtic manager shuffled his pack.

His side had not played particularly well but were approaching the interval with the game still goalless before the first Slovakian incision, a pass from the halfway line catching Mo Camara sleeping, Blazej Vascak sliding the ball across the box for new striker Juraj Halenar to tap home, with Paul Telfer nowhere to be seen. It was schoolboy defending.

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Twelve minutes into the second half, the roles were reversed as Artmedia Bratislava scored a second. This time it was Telfer caught out by Halenar’s run, the tall Slovakian striker then repaying the earlier favour by laying it on a plate for Vascak to pounce at the far post with Camara stranded and helpless, the Guinean full-back on the wrong side of play.

Gordon Strachan’s immediate response was to ring the changes, Shaun Maloney and Jeremie Aliadiere replacing Maciej Zurawski and Alan Thompson. Celtic’s best spell of the match then followed, Maloney going desperately close before setting up McGeady perfectly for 2-1, the precociously talented youngster somehow contriving to hit the Artmedia crossbar from a few yards out. An away goal at that point would have changed the course of the tie and modern Celtic history, however, things were about to get much, much worse.

With 15 minutes left to play, there was a genuine moment of magic, as Halendar drifted out of the box to meet a corner kick on the volley, his vicious shot rasping past David Marshall into the corner of the net for 3-0.

Still Celts refused to shut up shop, continuing to chase a vital away score but the next goal came at the other end, just three minutes later, this time Martin Mikulic turning away from Stan Varga and the wayward Camara to fire the ball home.

Celtic’s misery was complete in the dying seconds, as yet another simple through ball beat the entire Hoops defence, Halendar racing past Bobo Balde before shooting through Marshall to complete his hat-trick, sealing an abject European night and a 5-0 trouncing.

This was only Juraj Halendar’s second match for Artmedia, having signed from Inter Bratislava a few days earlier and after scoring twice for Inter on the opening day of the season against MFK Ruzomberok. MFK would succeed Artmedia as Slovakian champions the following May.

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That final 15 minutes in Bratislava will remain long in my mind, as I sat shell-shocked in front of the television. I recalled a similar evening, some 14 years earlier, as Liam Brady faced his second European tie as Celtic manager, a comfortable looking match-up with mid-table Swiss outfit Neuchatel Xamax in the UEFA Cup, the Hoops having disposed of Belgian side Germinal Ekeren in the previous round.

That night, an Egyptian striker called Hossam Hassan had helped himself to four of the best as the Celts lost 5-1, our worst-ever result in Europe. Somehow, Gordon Strachan’s team had managed to outdo even that calamity and had done so in his first real game as manager.

It was undoubtedly Gordon’s worst nightmare and it was difficult to see even at that early stage how he could possibly recover from such a horrific start. The new Celtic boss himself was badly shaken by the scale of the defeat, Strachan recollecting the events surrounding that traumatic night in his autobiography, My Life in Football.

“For some strange reason, disappointing starts have been par for the course for me over my managerial career. But the one I made at Celtic was by far the most traumatic. Throughout all my time in professional football, no one result or performance has shocked me more, and put a darker cloud over my club, than the 5-0 European Cup defeat by Artmedia Bratislava in my first competitive Celtic match in July 2005 – the heaviest European defeat in the club’s history and their biggest in any competition for some 42 years. It is still horrible to have to acknowledge those facts.”

The significance and enormity of this defeat is perhaps best illustrated by the game he refers to in the above statement, a 6-0 defeat by Kilmarnock at Rugby Park in March 1963. That night, a Hoops side decimated by injuries had been forced to make no fewer than eight changes to the weekend line-up against Willie Waddell’s high-flying Killie, with no fewer than three youngsters making their debuts. Goalkeeper Dick Madden played two games for Celtic that evening, his first and his last. Third-choice stopper behind Frank Haffey and John Fallon, the unfortunate Madden would later be the butt of the Hoops supporters’ joke as “the only thing Haffey ever kept out.”

Centre-half John Cushley made the first of what would be 41 appearances for Celtic in the thankless role of understudy to Billy McNeill. A fluent Spanish speaker, he had accompanied manager Jimmy McGrory in the bold but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to lure Alfredo Di Stefano to Celtic Park in 1964, John playing in a losing League Cup final team later that year before winning a Championship medal in 1966, as Celtic won the first of nine-in-a-row.

Cushley played his last game for Celtic in May 1967, then joined West Ham United in the aftermath of Lisbon, swapping one legendary captain for another as he teamed up with England hero Bobby Moore. He returned to Scotland with Dunfermline Athletic in 1970, before finishing his playing career at Dumbarton six years later. John did come back to his beloved Celtic Park as a coach then, latterly, as Education & Welfare Officer before sadly passing away from Motor Neurone Disease in March 2008.

Exactly two years earlier, that same horrific illness had taken the life of the third Rugby Park debutant from March 1963, the incomparable Jimmy Johnstone. Unlike the others, the heavy defeat that night would still lead to a long and glorious career in the Hoops for the incredible Jinky, voted by the club’s supporters as the ‘Greatest-Ever Celt’ in 2002, the ultimate accolade amongst a litany of fabulous players who graced the Celtic Park turf, spanning well over a century, even at that time.

The Celtic manager for that Kilmarnock defeat had been Jimmy McGrory, in the closing years of a two-decade spell in the Parkhead dugout and back at the ground where he had commenced his managerial career in December 1937.

Ironically, his first match in charge of Kilmarnock had been a Christmas Day 8-0 humiliation at Celtic Park, just five days after his appointment, on the field where he had broken so many goalscoring records from his own Hoops debut in January 1923 until retiring just a few weeks previously.

Despite facing some of the greatest attacking sides on the planet, none of McGrory’s predecessors – from trophy-winning managers Jock Stein, Billy McNeill, David Hay, Tommy Burns, Wim Jansen and Martin O’Neill to the less successful tenures of Liam Brady, Lou Macari, Jozef Venglos and John Barnes – had faced such an indignity as that Bratislava defeat during their spells in charge.

At least Brady’s sorry bunch had managed to get on the scoresheet in Neuchatel. That unwelcome fact and unwanted record would not be lost on the proud Strachan. Not then and I suspect not ever.

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There would be an opportunity to salvage both the tie and damaged reputation the following Tuesday, as Artmedia Bratislava visited Celtic Park for the return leg. A crowd of 50,063 turned out to see if the new manager and his team could make a different kind of European history, by becoming the first side to overturn a five-goal Champions League defeat and thus progress to the next round.

Gordon Strachan made three changes to his Bratislava starting line-up. The ‘Holy Goalie’ Artur Boruc made his competitive debut between the sticks, whilst young Stephen McManus replaced Stan Varga to partner Bobo Balde at centre-half, the Slovakian defender’s groin injury not healing in time for him to face his countrymen.

Another youngster, Ross Wallace, came into the side on the left side of midfield, replacing broken-cheek victim Chris Sutton. Making their European debuts, both McManus and Wallace would play a key role in that evening’s events, as Celtic lined up as follows.

Artur Boruc: Paul Telfer, Bobo Balde, Stephen McManus & Mo Camara:
Alan Thompson, Stan Petrov, Neil Lennon & Ross Wallace: John Hartson & Maciej Zurawski.

The game kicked off to a deafening roar, the Celtic support looking to rattle Slovakian confidence from the off. In their previous attempt to recover from a four-goal loss, against Neuchatel back in 1991, Celtic had been awarded an early penalty, a godsend. On that occasion, Charlie Nicholas had missed, and the tie was gone long before Joe Miller’s solitary response.

Midway through the first half against Artmedia, history would repeat itself, a softish decision as Maciej Zurawski turned his opponent in the box. The magic wand that is the left-foot of Alan Thompson made no mistake this time, drilling the ball to his right as keeper Juraj Cobej went the other way. “That’s one of the four back. Come on Celtic!”

With seconds remaining before the break, Parkhead erupted as Celtic notched a crucial second goal, keeping them on course for an implausible recovery. Ross Wallace was as brave as his legendary Scottish namesake William as he won an aerial challenge in midfield, the winger flicking the ball on before feeling the sickening impact of a defender’s head on his. John Hartson provided the class finish such raw courage deserved. 2-0. Game on.

Early in the second half, the Celtic manager introduced Shaun Maloney to the fray, young Wallace having played his part heroically for the cause by setting up the second goal. Within seconds, the little substitute had teed up the shaven-headed Stephen McManus for a close-range header, following a vicious Thompson corner on the right, a fortunate deflection taking the ball through Cobej’s legs for 3-0. “We couldn’t, could we?”

A quick fourth goal then would surely have swung the tie in Celtic’s favour. Crucially, though, we were into the final 10 minutes before Mo Camara, in his one productive input to the tie, swung over a delicious left-foot cross which Craig Beattie, who had replaced the tiring Zurawski on the hour mark, headed cleanly past Cobej for 4-0. Cue absolute bedlam around the stadium, with the dream back on.

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I have to say that, at this point, my normally pessimistic outlook had been replaced by the strongest feeling that we would actually get a fifth, to take the match to extra-time and certain Celtic victory.

There is a last throw of the dice from Gordon Strachan, as Jeremie Aliadiere comes on for Thompson for what would prove to be the final three minutes of his fledgling Celtic career. Agonisingly, however, the clock ticks down furiously as the chances are passed up, one following another as the tension becomes unbearable.

It had been close enough to touch but suddenly there is a blast on the Spanish referee’s whistle, and we are cruelly, so cruelly, out of the Champions League and, indeed, Europe altogether for this season.

In fairness, it had been a tremendous effort by the team on the night to repair the desperate damage from Bratislava, however, ultimately, we had fallen just short of creating history. Celtic captain Neil Lennon summed up his feelings after an incredible roller-coaster of a night.

“I think everyone could see tonight that the boys are right behind the manager and we’re all pleased for him. We only have ourselves to blame after letting ourselves down last week but tonight there was quality, passion and everything you’d want from a Celtic team. We can take a lot from the performance and the fact we never gave up. The dressing-room is a bit subdued, but we wanted to give it everything tonight and we certainly did that.”

Artmedia Bratislava manager Vladimir Weiss was a much happier and also a mightily relieved man.

“I have never seen such an atmosphere in all my years in football. It was a difficult job to convince the players that miracles couldn’t happen coming into this game. Thank God there was no miracle but there almost was! I am very proud of my team.”

He would have further cause to feel that sense of pride. As Gordon Strachan’s men licked their wounds and the Hoops support put their European dreams on hold for another season, the Slovakian side went on to prove that they were perhaps a better side than their reputation and co-efficient had suggested.

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Adopting Celtic’s seeded status in the final qualifying round of the Champions League, Artmedia went into the draw alongside Liverpool, Inter Milan and Villarreal, thus avoiding the big guns.

Nevertheless, they were still paired with the dangerous Serbians, Partizan Belgrade, who would start favourites. Two goalless draws meant that the tie would be settled on penalty kicks, Artmedia eventually winning 4-3.

By doing so, they became the first team to naturally progress all the way from the first qualifying round to the group stage of the Champions League. Holders Liverpool could technically claim the same distinction that season, albeit their circumstances and seeded status made this materially different.

The football gods were obviously having a chuckle as they paired the conquerors of Celtic – Artmedia Bratislava, the lowest-ranked team remaining in the competition – with our old foes, Inter Milan, Porto and Rangers.

The Slovakian makeweights were about to prove that they were anything but. A narrow home defeat by Inter, embarking on what would be the first of five successive seasons as Italian champions under Roberto Mancini and Jose Mourinho, was followed by an incredible fightback in Oporto’s Estadio do Dragao, from 2-0 down to triumph 3-2 against the side who had been champions of Europe just 16 months earlier, giving Artmedia a rather unique ‘Seville Double.’

Back-to-back draws with Rangers and a 4-0 defeat in the San Siro against the runaway group-winners Inter Milan meant that victory at home to Porto in the final game would take the Slovakians through to the Round of 16.

Agonisingly, a late missed chance against the Portuguese saw the match in Bratislava finish goalless, allowing Rangers to creep through with a paltry seven points, just one ahead of Artmedia.

It had been a tremendous effort by Weiss’ side. By finishing third in the group, Artmedia dropped into the UEFA Cup Round of 32, and a tie with Levski Spartak. There the great run would finally come to an end, after 1-0 and 2-0 defeats by the Bulgarians.

The European form did not extend to domestic competition, Artmedia failing to defend their title as they finished second in 2005/06, six points behind new champions MFK Ruzomberok.

Much more worrying was the situation with their goalkeeper Juraj Cobej, who had to undergo surgery in December 2005 to remove a brain tumour, just a few short months after keeping Celtic’s tally down to four in Glasgow.

Thankfully, Cobej would make a full recovery and, indeed, would gain his first and only international cap for Slovakia with a brief appearance in a friendly against Belgium in Trnava in May 2006.

Manager Vladimir Weiss had moved to Russia in mid-season to take charge at Saturn Moscow Oblast, the Slovak taking several of his players along with him before returning to Bratislava in June 2007, to the club by now renamed once again as Artmedia Petrzalska. In his final season there, Weiss would win a second Slovak Cup, repeating the success of four years earlier.

At the end of 2007/08, Vladimir Weiss left Artmedia to manage the Slovakian national team, his side making history by qualifying for the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa, its first appearance in a major tournament since securing independence from Czechoslovakia.

That had involved finishing top of a tricky World Cup qualifying group which included neighbours Poland and the Czech Republic, as well as Slovenia and Northern Ireland. Weiss’ squad for the finals would include his son, also called Vladimir, surely a unique situation where a grandfather, son and grandson, each bearing the same name, have represented their international team. Weiss III would feature in three of the four games in South Africa, missing the victory over Italy in Johannesburg which took Slovakia through to a Last 16 defeat by eventual runners-up Netherlands.

He would also feature in the next qualifying campaign, for Euro2012, scoring in the 3-1 defeat in Yerevan as the Slovakians trailed in a disappointing fourth behind Armenia, play-off contenders Republic of Ireland and group winners Russia.

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At the time of the 2010 World Cup finals, the youngest Vladimir Weiss was on the books of Manchester City but on loan at Bolton Wanderers. He would spend time under Walter Smith at Ibrox on a further loan deal the following season, having been linked with a move to Celtic, picking up League Cup and Premier League medals, the final trophies for Rangers before their liquidation in 2012.

Although Weiss would win 66 international caps, his club career would fail to get off the ground, spells in Spain, Italy, Greece and Qatar creating more headlines for a series of off-the-field incidents than for anything he ever achieved on it. Now aged 33, Weiss is currently plying his trade back in Slovakia with champions Slovan Bratislava, having returned to his homeland from Qataris Al-Gharafa in February 2020.

Failure to qualify for Euro2012 would see Weiss’ father resign as Slovakia manager in February 2012. He had combined his international duties in the 2011/12 campaign with a club role in charge of Slovan Bratislava, whom he led to the Group Stage of the Europa League following a Play-Off victory over Roma.

A tough draw against Paris Saint Germain, Red Bull Salzburg and Athletic Bilbao saw the Slovakians struggle and finish bottom of the section. Weiss left in August 2012, his next challenge being in Kazakhstan, perhaps ironically to manage Artmedia Bratislava’s Champions League victims from 2005, Kairat Almaty.

In his second season there, Weiss won the Kazakhstan Cup, repeating that feat in 2014/15. Kairat then narrowly missed out on a double and the solitary Champions League slot, finishing one point behind the wealthy champions FC Astana.

In March 2016, he became the manager of the Georgian national team, spending more than four years in there before resigning in November 2020. He returned to Slovan Bratislava for a second spell in May 2021 and led them to the Slovak Super Liga in both his first and second seasons. Weiss remains there at the time of writing, August 2023.

I’ll leave the last word on the Artmedia Bratislava episode to the man Weiss faced that week in the early part of the 2005/06 season, new Celtic manager Gordon Strachan, writing the following year…

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“As for that first leg against Artmedia, the argument that the game came too early for us was best illustrated by the upheaval to our defence in the full-back slots. The regular incumbents under Martin had been Didier Agathe and Jackie McNamara, Celtic’s captain.

“But with the former unavailable through injury and the latter having left for Wolves – much to my regret, following a contractual dispute, which I am convinced would have been settled to the satisfaction of both parties had Jackie and his agent adopted a more patient negotiating stance – we were forced to give debuts to both Paul Telfer and Mo Camara.

“The other back four headache concerned Bobo Balde’s contract situation. Bobo had a clause in his agreement stipulating that, at that particular time, he could leave Celtic for any club prepared to match or better his terms with us.

“He had every right to explore this possibility but in the build-up to a game as important as the one in Bratislava, his meetings and telephone conversations with other clubs were a distraction that we – not to mention Bobo – could have done without.

“For all this, there is little doubt that we should have done better against the Slovakian champions. I had the impression that their coach was as shocked about the scoreline as I was.

“Celtic did not play well but up to Artmedia’s young striker Juraj Halenar getting the first of his three goals, two minutes before half-time, I was thinking that the likeliest outcome would be a 0-0 draw.

“Even when Artmedia made it 2-0 early in the second half, I really could not see us taking the hammering we did. Hence the fact that, while some managers might have tried to bolster their defence and opted for a damage-limitation approach, I went the other way.

“My substitutions after Artmedia’s second goal – Shaun Maloney for Maciej Zurawski, who had struggled to make an impact on his Celtic debut, and then Jeremie Aliadiere for Alan Thompson, who had not been fully match-fit – were later described by some pundits as naïve.

“However, because of the importance of away goals in European matches, and my belief that Artmedia would prove as vulnerable at the back as we had been if we could put greater pressure on them, I felt that the gamble was justified. I still do.

“It could easily have paid off for us. Shaun Maloney missed one excellent chance and Aiden McGeady, who had come on in the first half for the injured Chris Sutton, failed to convert an even better one. The roof then fell on us again but bearing in mind that we beat Artmedia 4-0 in the return leg at Parkhead, we would still have gone through had one of those opportunities been taken.”

“When I die, I reckon the inscription on my headstone should read:

“This is much better than Bratislava.”

Matt Corr

*An extract from Matt Corr’s book Majic, Stan and the King of Japan published by Celtic Star Books and available from the link below.  If you enjoy high quality Celtic writing then please support our efforts by ordering your signed copy. We know you’ll love it!