Celtic Park and European Football have a rich history together. The famous 2-1 victory over Barcelona in the 2012 Champions League, the 1-1 draw with Liverpool en route to the UEFA Cup Final in 2003. But this was a new opposition, and new competition.
Back-to-back Norwegian champions, Bodø/Glimt were the visiting team for the 1st Leg of the 1st Knockout Round of the Europa Conference League.
Bodø had defeated Jose Mourinho's Roma 6-1 in their group stage, but there was an element of over confidence surrounding the Celtic support, who thought it was already in the bag, coming up against a team who were still in their preseason.
With Rangers pulling off an astonishing 4-2 victory away to Borussia Dortmund in the 1st Knockout Round of the Europa League earlier in the evening, all eyes were on Celtic Park to continue to fly the flag for Scottish Football.
Glimt came out with major intent, and that was to match Celtic with formation, and intensity - and it worked. Bodø took the lead only six minutes into the game, thanks to Espejord. From then on, they were in total control and Celtic looked lost, fortunate to keep it 1-0 at half-time.
Celtic came out after the break with a bit more spark about them, but that would be short lived. Pellegrino doubled Bodø's lead on the 55th minute, giving Celtic the difficult task of clawing themselves back into the tie.
Maeda eventually found the break Celtic were looking for on the 79th minute, with the whole stadium erupting in anticipation of a spectacular comeback in the last ten minutes.
Hopes and dreams were quickly shattered, as Vetlesen saw his 25-yard shot deflect and loop over Joe Hart less than a minute later, restoring the two goal lead.
The deflated support quickly exited Celtic Park at that point, as they watched their team struggle to keep the kind of form that had seen them dominate domestically.
A well deserved 3-1 victory for Bodø/Glimt, and what will now be a very tricky trip to the Arctic Circle for Celtic, where they'll surely be facing a cold front.
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