Martin O’Neill delivered a little piece of history in what will surely be his final game in Europe as a manager. O’Neill created such wonderful European memories for Celtic’s support during his first tenure as the manager that departing with a smile felt entirely valid. In Stuttgart, Celtic won their first ever competitive game in Germany. It took them 17 attempts.

Luke McCowan’s goal after 33 seconds was irrelevant in the broader context of this tie. Stuttgart’s 4-1 canter in Glasgow a week earlier ensured that. Still, a game that had the whiff of irrelevance for Celtic delivered cheer. The statistics will show Stuttgart spent much of the evening camped in Celtic’s half but the Scottish champions played with a diligence and discipline that it worthy of great credit. Sebastian Tounekti should even have scored a second Celtic goal in the closing minutes. By then, Stuttgart were going through the motions.

There had appeared little to excite both sets of players. Not only were Stuttgart essentially sure of progression but their current position of fourth in the Bundesliga invited a sense of bigger fish to fry. Celtic head to Ibrox on Sunday at the start of a week that...