UEFA CUP/Celtic ... 3 VfB Stuttgart ... 1: Last night Celtic had one of their finest results in modern times, despite the unpromising circumstances of this UEFA Cup fourth-round tie.
As eviction from the Champions League by Basle showed, a 3-1 lead from the home leg is not always sufficient, but the players can pause to cherish this eventful win.
Martin O'Neill's men, disadvantaged by injuries and the suspension of John Hartson, prayed for some rogue event that would tilt the balance back towards them.
They got it, too, with Marcelo Bordon, Stuttgart's Brazilian centre back, sent off for a professional foul after 19 minutes.
The red card was a challenge to take command of the game, if not the tie, but Celtic could not meet it immediately.
The visitors, a man down, were soon a goal ahead and it was an unexpected achievement for Celtic to gain the lead by the interval.
Celtic had not been at this modestly advanced stage of a European competition for 23 years and there were real questions about their merits in such a context. This was not the ideal juncture for Celtic to field awkward inquiries.
Once Henrik Larsson had been ruled out with a broken jaw, there was never any threat to Pierluigi Collina's status as the glitziest figure on the pitch.
As far as Celtic were concerned, the referee was welcome to his celebrity as this was no night for glamour.
Lacking the enterprise of Larsson, manager O'Neill placed a marked emphasis on experience as he sought a line-up that could stand its ground against a currently potent Bundesliga side.
The captain Paul Lambert is often left on the bench at the start of the most trying fixtures but he was reinstated this time.
The long-serving Jackie McNamara was accommodated as well, even if that meant pushing the midfielder back into defence.
There was no rhythm to the team at the start and the visitors' attackers looked predatory.
The nature of the struggle changed, all the same, when Shaun Maloney sent Stilian Petrov on a run that was halted coarsely by Bordon 30 yards out.
Other Stuttgart players were hurtling back, but the centre half had been the last man and Collina had no reason to excuse him.
Despite that reduction in numbers, Stuttgart broke through in the 26th minute when Kevin Kuranyi headed in a chip from Krassimir Balakov.
The setback dispelled Celtic's inhibitions and their first goal, in the 39th minute, was thoughtfully constructed as Petrov chested down a McNamara cross and Lambert slanted a controlled drive into the corner of the net.
Six minutes later a through ball by Alan Thompson put Maloney in position to accept his opportunity sharply.
Still, Celtic maintained a high tempo and the patterns of their play grew more marked.
It was Lambert who delivered a shrewd pass for his side's third goal in the 68th minute. It picked out the run of Petrov and, drilling the ball in from close to the byline on the right, he beat the goalkeeper Timo Hilderbrand at the near post.
That finish confounded geometry just as, to Celtic's joy, the night defied logic.
CELTIC: Douglas, McNamara, Balde (Laursen 88), Valgaeren, Agathe, Lambert, Lennon, Petrov, Thompson (Smith 69), Sutton, Maloney. Subs Not Used: Marshall, Sylla, Fernandez, Healy, Guppy. Goals: Lambert 36, Maloney 45, Petrov 68.
VFB STUTTGART: Hildebrand, Hinkel, Bordon, Meira, Gerber, Soldo, Meissner (Rundio 76), Hleb (Carnell 51), Balakov, Amanatidis (Danglmayr 19), Kuranyi. Subs Not Used: Ernst, Tiffert, Seitz, Ganea. Sent Off: Bordon (17). Booked: Meira, Meissner. Goals: Kuranyi 27.
Referee: P Collina (Italy).
