Bordeaux's Lilian Laslandes broke Celtic hearts last night with two goals that, yet again, put the Glasgow club out of Europe before the turn of the year. Laslandes levelled an earlier effort from Lubomir Moravcik to leave the game 1-1 on the night and 2-2 on aggregate and bring the tie to extra-time. Then, six minutes before a penalty shoot-out was due to come into play, Laslandes beat Jonathan Gould with a scorching shot from an acute angle on the right-hand side of the area.
Celtic had rarely been troubled in the game before a worrying onslaught in the last 10 minutes of normal time by the French swung the fortunes of the affair and petrified onlooking Glaswegians.
The irony was that Bordeaux had looked a touch slovenly throughout, quietly classy when the mood took them, which appeared to be quite rare. Before Jonathan Gould conceded a late equaliser he had barely been troubled.
The game didn't have the anxieties of Ibrox two nights before, but the 51,000 inside Parkhead were still stricken with nerves. When, like Celtic, you haven't been past a third round in Europe since Michael Foot was still a power in Britain, then occasions like these seem fraught. Matters were made worse for Celtic by the absence through injury and ineligibility of Paul Lambert and Alan Thompson and the home side's nerves were worse still for the sight of Christophe Dugarry in the colours of Bordeaux. This arrogant showman caused alarm to sweep through Celtic whenever he burst forward. Bordeaux didn't look indulgently talented but their lucky charm in number 26 certainly did.
Dugarry's dips of a shoulder and riding of rough tackles ensured that much of the first 50 minutes of this match were filled with Celtic squealing for doubtful penalties instead of scything through the French defence. Celtic's best chance of the opening half came when Henrik Larsson found himself seven yards out from Ulrich Rame before the goalkeeper saved the Swede's shot with his legs.
Celtic finally forced a breakthough in the 54th minute. In the moments leading to it, Larsson's vicious free-kick had somehow at the last second been flapped away by Rame, though Bordeaux's respite was to last only for a few seconds.
Bobby Petta's low cross was cleared weakly by the French, leaving Moravcik to rifle home a beautiful right-foot shot from 18 yards. The little Slovakian, described as "ancient" by O'Neill though only, in fact, 34, is supposed to preserve his precious energy.
Yet no sooner was Moravcik substituted than Bordeaux equalised. Laurent Batlles screwed the ball back for Laslandes to stretch out a leg and beat Gould in the 78th minute.
CELTIC: Gould; Mjallby, Boyd, Valgaeren; Agathe, McNamara (Healy 40), Moravcik (Johnson 78), Petrov, Petta (Berkovic 105); Larsson, Sutton.
BORDEAUX: Rame; Jemmali (Saveljic 101), Roche, Sommeil, Bonniesel; Batlles (Basto 81), Laslandes, Diabate (Afanou 56), Legwinski, Dugarry, Pauleta.
