Celtic return to the Constant Vanden Stock Stadium tomorrow night with the venue bringing back unpleasant memories for fans of a certain vintage.
Fresh from the UEFA Cup Final in Seville Martin O’Neill had an experienced squad freshened up by the exciting arrival of Liam Miller.
Bayern Munich and Lyon made up the group giving a sense of Deja Vu to tomorrow’s match but the group campaign hinged on the back-to-back clashes with the Belgian champions.
Celtic had been in devastating for to beat Lyon 2-0 at home on Matchday 2 and headed to Belgium with confidence that they could take their first away point or points in the Champions League.
The away day hoodoo had been killed off the previous seasons with wins away to Blackburn Rovers, Liverpool and Boavista while progressing against Celta Vigo and Stuttgart with impressive away performances.
The 1-0 scoreline in favour of Anderlecht barely told the story of the match.
Celtic were up against 10 men for over an hour but it was only after falling behind in the 72nd minute that they went looking for a goal.
Seven home points from nine was a decent return but the away day failures, particularly in Belgium meant that it was the UEFA Cup after Christmas and a great opportunity missed in Henrik Larsson’s last season at the club.
