Henrik Larsson's seriously broken leg dominated Celtic thoughts on a night of UEFA Cup anguish in Lyon with the extent of the injury overshadowing the additional blow of a narrow second round, first-leg, defeat.
The Swedish international collapsed in agony after attempting to challenge Serge Blanc deep in his own half in the 12th minute, with the damage sustained a suspected double fracture of his left leg.
With painful irony it was Blanc who emerged after 63 minutes to put Lyon ahead with a magnificent angled drive which settled proceedings on a night in which Celtic defended bravely throughout.
Larsson has been a revelation since joining Celtic from Feyenoord two years ago, captured for £600,000 by then manager Wim Jansen, and in Saturday's 7-0 win over Aberdeen passed 50 league goals for the club with a hat-trick.
The looks of horror on his team-mates' faces after the incident made clear the severity of the damage and the loss of last season's player of the year is certain to have a significant impact on the remainder of Celtic's season.
Television pictures at once confirmed his left leg had snapped just above the ankle, sparking fears the damage might even prove career-threatening.
Comparisons were instantly drawn with Coventry defender David Busst, who in April 1996 was carried off at Old Trafford visibly in agony after a serious leg break against Manchester United which ended his career.
Celtic had claims for a penalty rejected after 24 minutes when substitute Mark Burchill raced on to a through-ball from Mark Viduka before rounding goalkeeper Gregory Coupet, but referee Rene Temmink had other ideas.
LYON: Coupet, Carteron, Laigle, Bak (Malbranque 53), Violeau, Anderson, Dhorasoo, Vairelles (Caveglia 73), Blanc, Delmotte, Brechet. Subs Not Used: Devaux, Govou, Linares, Uras, Hugues. Booked: Carteron. Goal: Blanc 61.
CELTIC: Gould, McNamara, Stubbs, Tebily, Riseth, Burley, Lambert, Mjallby, Larsson (Burchill 19), Moravcik (Petta 65), Viduka. Subs Not Used: Kharine, Blinker, Wieghorst, Brattbakk, Petrov. Booked: Moravcik, Burley, Burchill.
Referee: R Temmink (Holland).
