In the Champions League second qualifying round, second leg, Celtic faced the Herculean task of attempting to pull back a 5-0 first leg deficit against Artmedia Bratislava at Parkhead.
The boys were given hope by two first half goals from Alan Thompson and John Hartson, prompting a frenzied attack on the Slovak goal in the final 45 minutes. With eight minutes remaining on the clock, McManus and Beattie had made it 4-0, but the fifth eluded Gordon Strachan’s men, allowing Bratislava to scrape through on the back of their impressive home performance.
Liverpool experienced no such problems, Gerrard and Cisse adding two more strikes to the Reds 3-1 away win tally against FBK Kaunas of Lithuania. Also through to the third round are notably CSKA Sofia, Liverpool’s next opponents, Lokomotiv Moscow, Brondby and Anderlecht. Shelbourne’s brave fight finally ended in Bucharest with a 4-1 defeat but minnows FC Thun overcame mighty Dynamo Kiev 1-0 at home to give the Swiss club a famous 3-2 aggregate victory.
