Celtic flashback: Vincent Kompany
In first half stoppage time the City defender eluded Smalling to head powerfully into the net to the delight of the home fans at the Etihad Stadium.
By the new standards of the club the £6m that Mark Hughes agreed to pay Hamburg for the defender in August 2008 was something of a bargain
Kompany spent two unhappy seasons in the Bundesliga after Hamburg splashed out £8m to take him from Belgium.
The teenager first came to prominence at the Belgian side making a big impression during the 2003/04 Champions League campaign as a 17-year-old.
Up against Celtic, Bayern Munich and Lyon the young defender didn’t look out of place as clubs around Europe began to sit up and take notice.
Celtic travelled to the Constant Vanden Stock Stadium to face Anderlecht on 21 October 2003 on the back of a devastating performance beating Lyon 2-0 following a predictable 2-1 defeat away to Bayern Munich in the opening group match.
With Chris Sutton providing a powrful force in midfield behind Henrik Larsson and John Hartson hopes were high that Martin O’Neill’s side could gain their first away win in the Champions League.
A 25th minute red card for Glen De Boeck increased the hopes of the visting support but with Komany catching the eye Celtic toiled to break down their hosts before falling behind to a goal from Aruna Dindane with 20 minutes left to play.
Celtic threw on Liam Miller to salvage a point but the Belgians held on to win the points.
Kompany’s performance attracted Alex Ferguson to the reverse fixture at Celtic Park but it was Miller that impressed the Manchester United boss who left when Miller was substituted late in the second half.
Surprisingly it was Hamburg that signed Kompany- perhaps if Ferguson had followed up on the progress of the young defender the noisy neighbours wouldn’t be two wins away from the first championship since 1968.
ANDERLECHT: Zitka: De Boeck, Zewlakow, Deschacht, Kompany; Basseggio, Kolar, Wilhelmsson (Hendrikx 88), Hasi, Dindane, Mormar
CELTIC: Hedman: McNamara (Valgaeren 46) , Varga, Balde: Agathe, Lennon (Miller 80), Sutton, Petrov, Thompson: Hartson, Larsson
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