AIDEN McGeady, the former Celtic and Republic of Ireland winger, took exception to the suggestion that his old club’s record in the Champions League left something to be desired when he appeared on BBC Radio Scotland’s morning news programme today.

“It wasn’t when I was there,” said the recently retired McGeady somewhat indignantly to the presenter. “We qualified for the knockout rounds twice in my time.”

Those were salad days for the Parkhead club in Europe’s premier club competition.

They won, despite facing Copenhagen, Manchester United, Benfica, AC Milan, Benfica again and Shakhtar Donetsk, all six of their group games in the 2006/07 and 2007/08 seasons and made it through to the last 16 two years running. 

In the years since, however, they have often wilted like a week-old lettuce when they have welcomed the continent’s elite to the East End of Glasgow.

Celtic supporters take great pride when they hear legends of the global game, the likes of Gianluigi Buffon, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paolo Maldini, Lionel Messi, Luca Modric, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Xavi, rave about the atmosphere which they invariably generate.

However, if their heroes have been soundly thrashed, as has been the case more often than not in recent years, the gushing praise always has a hollow, slightly condescending even, ring to it.

Fans of the Scottish champions, though, have grown cautiously optimistic their world-renowned stadium has become something of a fortress in the Champions League once again during the 2024/25 campaign.

Brendan Rodgers’ men went, having beaten Feyenoord in their final encounter against foreign rivals last season and Slovan Bratislava and RB Leipzig this term, into their league phase meeting with Club Brugge this evening, looking to record their fourth consecutive win.

Punters who have yearned for European success for so long filled every available seat in the 60,000 capacity arena hoping to witness a win which would move Celtic to within touching distance of a place in the knockout round play-offs.

They stood as one and held their scarves aloft and sang You’ll Never Walk Alone during the build-up and roared as if Kyogo Furuhashi had scored a long-range screamer when tournament theme tune Zadoc the Priest was played before kick-off.

But when proceedings finally got underway all that could be heard from them was The Sound of Silence.

Brugge, who had beaten Sturm Graz away and Aston Villa on their own turf in their first four games, appeared not in the slightest bit daunted by the hostile reception they were given by the locals when they came out of the tunnel.

They got on the front foot early on and, without creating much in the way of clear cut scoring opportunities, dramatically reduced the decibel levels around the ground.

All that could be heard at times was the 3,000 or so travelling supporters who were billeted in the corner between the Main Stand and the Lisbon Lions Stand. The raised the roof when Cameron Carter-Vickers passed the ball into his own net during the first-half. Their celebrations were followed by chants of, “You’re f***** s***!”

Rodgers had spoken of the need for his charges to harness the power of Parkhead at his pre-match press conference on Monday night. But he acknowledged they required to perform at their best to bring their 12th man into play and they were far from the force they had been against Bratislava and Leipzig.

The Green Brigade ultras group in the safe-standing section unfurled dozens of Palestinian flags at the start of the second-half along with a banner which read “F*** UEFA”. Will the governing body take a dim view of their display and punish Celtic again? They have shown themselves to be a fine-happy organisation in the past.

The home support were certainly happy when Daizen Maeda produced a moment of magic in the visitors’ penalty box which McGeady would have been proud of in his pomp and levelled.

They were suddenly roused to life. They cheered every time a player in a hooped jersey won a tackle, completed a pass or got within sight of goal. This was the Celtic Park that Rodgers had wanted to see and hear.

They were ecstatic when the shot that Brugge striker Ferran Jutgla slotted underneath Kasper Schmiechel was disallowed following a VAR check. Callum McGregor and his team mates were visibly lifted by the vocal backing they received from the stands. They could possibly have snatched a late winner. It would, though, have flattered them if they had.

Fan power played a huge part in this hard-fought and potentially vital draw for Celtic. But these 90 minutes underlined that more, much more, is required to succeed at this rareified level. There must improve on the park to match if they are to match the achievements of their predecessors and progress to the next stage.