Chris Sutton has opened up on the pain he felt losing to Bayern Munich in 2003 and how he- and Martin O’Neill- both blamed Magnus Hedman for the defeat.
The Swedish keeper had a reputation of being available when it suited him while mystery injuries hampered his Celtic career after being signed from Coventry in 2002.
Hedman had replaced Rab Douglas at the start of the 2003/04 season and although Micky Gray was the only addition to the Seville squad the side looked strong for Henrik Larsson’s farewell season.
Celtic had won their previous away European ties against Liverpool and Boavista and looked on course for a much bigger scalp when Alan Thompson put them in front of Bayern in the Olympic Stadium.
Picking up the story in the Daily Record Sutton recalls: “I had the pleasure of being involved in Champions League games against both of them (Bayern and Anderlecht), although I can’t say all of the recollections are good.
“Bayern away in the old Olympic Stadium in 2003 still hurts. We were 1-0 up in the second-half through an Alan Thompson header and I felt we’d win.
“You can sometimes tell in games that you play, gauge them. And I really thought we had everything under control.
“Then Magnus Hedman entered the equation. No harm to the fella, but he absolutely s**t the bed. Threw two appalling goals into the net.
“I’ll never forget the rinsing that Martin O’Neill gave him in the dressing room afterwards.
“Seriously, it was one of the most-severe hairdryers I have ever witnessed. He tore him apart. No wonder. Some of the lads wanted to so the same!”
Sutton added: “Anderlecht away under Martin was another bitter one. Honestly, hand on heart, I can say it was one of the worst European performances I was ever involved with at Celtic.
“They had 10 men for most of the game and still beat us. We were dreadful. Even when Stan Varga got a chance about one centimetre from the goal to equalise, we still messed it up.
“It was brutal. Perhaps exemplified by the fact that we absolutely battered them when we got them back to Parkhead. Even I scored.”
The Anderlecht and Lyon home matches were among the most complete performances that Celtic turned in in the Champions League with Liam Miller prominent in both games.
Celtic took seven points from the group but finished in third place ahead of Anderlecht on the head-to-head between the two clubs.
Had they held out for a 2-2 draw in the final match away to Lyon they would have made the last 16 but a late penalty saw them drop into the UEFA Cup where they beat Barcelona but lost to Villarreal.
