Mikael Lustig finally arrived as a Celtic player in Moscow.
The January signing from Rosenborg looked like an example of Bosman opportunism with Celtic in a strong position for the title and Adam Matthews emerging as a top quality right-back with Cha Du-Ri as back up.
Lustig made his debut at Aberdeen in March as a long winning run ended with a 1-1 draw and flitted in and out of the side with the title in the bag.
Neil Lennon isn’t short of defensive options but after his display against Spartak Moscow the 25-year-old Swedish international is the man in possession at right-back.
“The last month I’ve been feeling in good shape, playing a lot and it’s going well,” Lustig confirmed.
“It wasn’t too difficult to settle but obviously it was hard being injured when I arrived, then this season playing a few different positions.
“Sometimes it can be hard to find the rhythm of your game but the last couple of games it’s been nice to play at right back.
“The Benfica game I played at centre half, that was fun as well though. It’s the biggest stage and that’s a dream come true, to have a good game there.
“The team is coming together now. We played really well at Motherwell and the squad is good just now. I can speak for myself when it comes to the competition.
“Adam Matthews is real good at right back, at centre half Efe Ambrose is looking good, Thomas Rogne, Charlie Mulgrew and Kelvin Wilson have all done well there, and now you look at the midfield that Beram Kayal and Joe Ledley are coming back.
“There will be a lot of games coming, so it has to be good.”
Lustig added: “When I came here I had always been one of the youngest guys at Rosenborg — and now I’m playing as one of the old men in the team at 25. It’s an unbelievably young team. It’s so much fun to be training with guys at that age who want to progress all the time, get better all the time.
“We want to compete in Europe, that’s our ambition. So if we can keep this team for two or three years, we should make things better in Europe.
“Will that mean we look beyond the group stages? Absolutely. If we’re going to be in the Champions League for the next two or three years we’re not going to settle for being there. You always want to be better than that.”
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Mikael looked unsettled and seemed to have a little problem finding hiself within the team. However over the last few games he has started to show us the quality that has made him an International player. He was strong again today.
Still not convinced by Lustig although he is definitely improving.