Ronaldinho was standing just across from us next to partner in crime Samuel Eto’o.
Xavi would be the man our midfield boys would have to handle and me and big John Hartson were going to have to get the better of Carles Puyol. In one of most-iconic arenas in world football, the Nou Camp. After the Champions League anthem had just finished blaring out.
Seriously, some of Ange Postecoglou ’s boys have no idea what is about to hit them and they should be as excited as children at Christmas after that Champions League draw at getting the chance to do what we did. Real Madrid. At Celtic Park and in the Bernabeu. It’s an absolutely fantastic draw. The champions of Europe. For Postecoglou’s boys, it’ll be Karim Benzema, Luca Modric, Toni Kroos, Vinicius Junior instead of the boys we faced.
Just like us, they’ll be desperate for a crack at them. Celtic fans really wanted Real having had Barca often in the past and now it’s on. What a prospect.
And, do you know what? Mixed with the glamour, it’s the perfect group because, not only is it box office, it also looks possible to get out of it.
Real are sensational. Streetwise and a winning machine when it comes to the competition. But Sheriff Tiraspol beat them in the groups last season and it’s really a no-lose for Celtic. No-one expects them to get anything from those games.
However, there has to be opportunities against RB Leipzig and Shakhtar Donetsk. Celtic only have to look at last season’s Europa League semi-final against Rangers to see the Germans are beatable.
Coach Domenico Tedesco is still in charge and they still have star names such as striker Christopher Nkunku. But Rangers did a job on them last season and Postecoglou will fancy doing the same, especially on home soil.
Shakhtar are harder to predict, for obvious reasons. You have to have great sympathy for the teams from Ukraine. This is a club who has always been able to tap into a rich stream of South American talent and they’ve had some brilliant Brazailians through the years.
But, of course, the terrible scenario with the Russia invasion has meant foreign players have been allowed to leave Ukraine for free by FIFA and that is bound to have an effect on the strength of their squad.
Several major players have gone and they also have to give up home advantage by playing their ties in Warsaw, Poland. It’s an awful situation.
Celtic, like everyone, will feel deep sympathy on a human level, but if you talk only on a purely sporting level, it is surely going to make them less-tougher opposition than some of the other Pot 3 teams that were lurking.
Third place in the section and a spot in the Europa League after Christmas has to be the No.1 target and anything else a bonus. But Madrid is the one. That is the dream ticket.
That night in Barcelona, where Giovanni van Bronckhorst was also playing for the hosts, when we got a 1-1 draw was my best-ever feeling. I had some good ones, even if I say so myself, with goals against Juventus and some great wins with the team under Martin O’Neill.
Callum McGregor had already said that he wanted get Real and it’s just so exciting for all of them. There isn’t long to wait until it gets going and, given the fact the games come one after another in spells due to the condensed pre-World Cup in Qatar fixture list, it’ll fly past.
This is a wonderful opportunity for Postecoglou’s players to really show themselves against the best. I read Liel Abada in Record Sport a couple of weeks saying he dreamed of playing in it and grew up hoping to do so.
I’m pretty sure, looking at their ages and what many of them might go on to do in their careers, it won’t be their last outing in it, no matter what happens. In the main, the squad won’t have seen or experienced anything like it. Most of Postecoglou’s team are internationals, but some of the sides are a step up from most national teams.
In the shape of Real, this is the absolute elite they are going against and this can change careers. Perform well on this illustrious stage and you are noted by the best in the business.
The likes of Jota and Giorgos Giakoumakis have had fleeting experiences. It’s the leaders like McGregor, Joe Hart and James Forrest who have seen it all before and their experience is going to be invaluable because, while there will be highs, there can be lows.
It’s enjoyable and it’s exciting, but, make no mistake, it can also be brutal. As much as you can make magical memories, hidings are also never far away and that goes for most teams in the competition at the group stage, bar the real elite.
Listen, the time for going through the way Postecoglou may or may not go about with this environment can come under the microscope nearer the time. Right now, it’s just about that initial burst of adrenaline and excitement.
That feeling in the stomach, there’s nothing like it. Celtic earned the right to be there with their magnificent winning of the title last season and this is the pay off.
The rewards for the hard work have just been laid bare. I just hope the current Celtic players enjoy it as much as I did.
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