"WE'RE ready to play in the morning, afternoon or the evening. Just put us on the pitch and we'll do our thing.”

Jota, and Celtic, lived up to his words in Tuesday’s 2-0 win over Ferencvaros.

Nobody needed to be reminded of the last time these two clubs faced off, or the importance of this meeting.

A defeat to Ferencvaros precipitated a painful downward spiral for Celtic last season, while this latest instalment is part one of a crucial double-header in both sides’ pursuit of European football after Christmas.

The headlines seemed poised to write themselves, whether it was more ‘same old story’ or ‘brave new world’ was up to Ange Postecoglou’s charges to decide.

This occasion had a different feel to it from the off, though. A Celtic ‘European night’ in the afternoon; a match with a high-tempo opening salvo that gave way to often-tired periods of passing and pressing; a game of solid saves and needless shaky moments. Yet it was a match all the more enthralling for it.

And the goals. Even they were different. One a spectacular two-punch combo between Jota and Kyogo Furuhashi, the other a scrappy second-chance conversion by David Turnbull.

The teams were different, too. Ferencvaros had undergone a bit of reconstruction since the last meeting, though not on quite the same scale as Celtic. Five of the players who triumphed in Glasgow last year started again on Tuesday. In contrast, Callum McGregor was the only Hoops player from that night to be named in the starting XI this time round.

It wasn’t just on the pitch there were differences though. When the sides met last August it was still at the height of coronavirus restrictions; Parkhead was empty. Despite the abnormal kick-off – COP26-prompted but UEFA-enforced to protect the supposed sanctity of Champions League TV slots – it wasn’t empty now.

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Half-days off, full-days off, sickies. By whatever means, there were over 50,000 fans in attendance to roar the Hoops on this time. That visceral change in intensity was present on the grass too.

The teams battered away at one another in the early stages, Celtic’s defence tested by a couple of whipped crosses from either side while McGregor and Jota both forced Ferencvaros goalkeeper Denes Dibusz into action.

But this was not some frenzied revenge mission. This is a new Celtic, one being encouraged to play with a certain style. They tried to keep that early intensity on the ball as much as they could. Off the ball, however, the Hoops defence again looked vulnerable down the flanks. While their pressing was generally effective in the first half, the once or twice that Ferencvaros played through it exposed the shortcomings inherent in a midfield containing David Turnbull and Tom Rogic.

The decision to stick with both Rogic and Turnbull in the starting XI was likely made easier by the former putting in a man-of-the-match display against Motherwell and the latter scoring a peach to put the gloss on the result.

Nonetheless, it is a risky strategy in Europe. The duo’s capacity for creative magic weighed against the defensive holes they tend to leave does not always balance out over the course of a match. On this occasion the scales tipped in their favour, though neither were truly at their best.

Although Ferencvaros offered less and less in an attacking sense as the match wore on, it seemed Celtic’s lack of urgency immediately after the half posed the real danger to victory.

That was, of course, until Celtic’s two standout players of the season so far stepped up.

All afternoon Kyogo had slogged and slogged, making run after run without being found and sometimes without even seeing his team-mates attempt to do so. It’s tiring, even for a professional, to keep getting yourself into the optimum positions on such occasions. Yet that persistence is what has endeared the Japan international to Celtic fans as much as his quality – although, don’t worry, that was on show here too.

But first, a nod to Jota. The Portuguese has been a revelation since his arrival. On top of his skill he has shown a desire – to score, to win, to simply be involved – that, like Kyogo, has supporters firmly on his side from the outset.

It helps that has seven goal contributions in nine Celtic matches. On Tuesday it was an assist of sterling quality that made the difference.

In possession deep in his own half as Celtic played it out from the back, the winger composed himself with a few extra touches before pinging a pinpoint lofted pass between the Ferencvaros defenders to Kyogo who, naturally, had already been moving into position. The Japan international barely broke stride to control before slotting home with ease having spotted the keeper out of position. There's that quality shining through.

After that, well, the game was theirs. OK, that’s admittedly a bit of a Francis Begbie way to portray the way it unfolded – Anthony Ralston’s sublime clearance which kept Celtic from conceding straight after scoring helped matters along nicely after all.

Even still, it could have been 2-0 earlier than it was when Jota again caused chaos down the left before getting the ball to Montgomery, whose instinctive first touch took him past defender Henry Wingo. The Ferencvaros man took the 19-year-old down and, although McGregor missed the penalty with a poor attempt, the fire had already been lit.

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Celtic peppered the Ferencvaros goal from then on. Turnbull fluffed his lines before helping the ball get over the line at the second attempt to make it 2-0. The Scotland midfielder would miss another gilt-edged opportunity while Jota passed up the chance to get his name on the scoresheet and Giorgos Giakoumakis – impressive in his cameo alongside Mikey Johnston – tried a spectacular overhead kick as the Hoops flexed their attacking muscles while looking entirely thrilled to be doing so.

To dwell too much on Joe Hart’s quick-thinking after Carl Starfelt’s mistake in the dying embers of the game is to miss the point slightly.

It protected a rare European clean sheet but, in truth, conceding a goal wouldn’t have changed the fact this match was already about to be added to the growing list of performances this season when Celtic should have scored more than they did.

That’s fine, though. How they created the chances in the first place matters.

The first goal, borne from an insistence on playing it out from the back. The second, which owed so much to McGregor’s decision to try to win the ball back on the edge of the Ferencvaros area rather than retreat into shape. It’s what Postecoglou has been asking for; it shows him, and the fans, that the players still believe.

If they have to miss a few chances into the bargain, big deal. And anyway, as Johan Cruyff once said, fundamentally football is about scoring one more than your opponent. Celtic did that and then some.

As Jota promised, they did their thing.