Blackburn (0) v Celtic 1: Three decades have been and gone since Celtic last overcame English opponents in Europe and, amid all the cries of injustice emanating from Ewood Park, it has almost been overlooked that they are halfway there again.
The Scottish champions will want to finish the job off against Blackburn Rovers tonight although the nature of their 1-0 first-leg advantage, and specifically the manner in which it was procured, makes it far from certain that Graeme Souness's UEFA Cup aspirations will go the same way as Leeds United in the 1970 European Cup semi-final.
Given Blackburn's superiority in Glasgow a fortnight ago, not to mention the lingering sense of perplexity that they somehow managed to lose such a one-sided encounter, Souness is entitled to exude an air of confidence that all has not been lost.
A man loath to passing the slightest compliment in Celtic's direction, he has already irritated Martin O'Neill with his assessment that the opening leg was "men against boys" and the former Rangers manager remained in ebullient mood yesterday.
"I still can't believe we lost that game," he said. "But I have always said that we are a team best suited to going forward and I still fancy our chances."
His confidence is based on the fact that his three most potent attackers are close to full fitness. Republic of Ireland winger Damien Duff caused Celtic a host of problems in the first leg, and Souness believes Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke, who have both been troubled by injuries, are finally beginning to show the sort of menace they once displayed for Manchester United.
"If you look at our season so far our three most exciting players have not played together for any games back to back," said Souness. Those three players excite me when I watch them in training but, as of yet, they have not had a chance to play together properly."
Meanwhile O'Neill is preparing to welcome Stilian Petrov back into the side, after the Bulgarian was dropped for publicly stating that he would not sign a new contract.
"I spoke to his agent on the telephone and he is concerned for Stilian, as he is entitled to be. But it will have absolutely no bearing whatsoever and if Stilian is in the side then he is there on merit," said O'Neill. "It wasn't what he said, it was the fact that he didn't get permission to say it. If the players speak to the press they can say what they want."
O'Neill believes Celtic's performances in Europe over the past 15 months will stand to them tonight.
"If we play well - anything at all like we have on previous European nights - we will go through.
"We have beaten Ajax away, Valencia at home and done extremely well home and away against Juventus, so we know we can handle the big games."
Garry Flitcroft has been ruled out for Blackburn after suffering an ankle injury in training, and Martin Taylor will also miss out because of a pulled hamstring.
