IF any Lazio scouts had the privilege of swapping Rome for the delights of Motherwell at the weekend, their impressions of midweek opponents Celtic may have been somewhat mixed.
Brendan Rodgers’ men were in a game, alright, as Stuart Kettlewell’s men made life extremely difficult for the champions at Fir Park. But their lack of ideas at times in breaking down the well organised and stubborn Steelmen was eventually offset by a mixture of measured composure and a remarkable will to win that allowed them to snatch three points when it looked certain that two would be spilled.
Matt O’Riley’s dramatic 97th minute winner – coming just one minute and 37 seconds after Blair Spittal had cancelled out Luis Palma’s opener for Celtic – capped off an incredible climax to a game that transitioned from a chess match to a slugfest in the closing stages.
It may well prove something of a sliding doors moment. Had Celtic indeed settled for what looked an inevitable draw in Saturday’s early kick off, then Rangers may well have been buoyed as they took on Aberdeen at Ibrox with the opportunity to close the gap at the top of the Premiership table to just two points.
Instead, that gap had been increased to seven by the end of the day, and Rangers manager Michael Beale’s coat is now on the shoogliest of pegs.
That isn’t Celtic’s concern though, and as Liam Scales – impressive again here – explained, O’Riley’s goal could also be crucial as they roll into Wednesday night’s crucial Champions League tie against Lazio on the crest of a wave.
"We had hope we could get another goal,” Scales said.
"There has been a lot of added time in these games recently and Greg Taylor went down so we knew we were going to get a few extra minutes.
"And when they scored and their celebration, it took up time. So, we knew we would get another chance to go and get a goal. That's the ethos of this club.
"It was a massive goal because it keeps us on a good roll. In the league, we have been on a roll and it gave the fans a buzz too. Wednesday night is going to be amazing and the fans will be right behind us because they know how much we had to dig in to get the points [on Saturday].
"It's momentum isn't it? It shows we are going in the right direction. A lot of these Champions League games are all about digging in for each other and showing character.”
With the greatest of respect to Motherwell, playing as well as they are, it is the opening half against Feyenoord in particular that has Scales sure that both he and Celtic can handle the level in the Champions League this season.
Even when it all unravelled in the second half of that game, the performance and resilience of Scales was a key factor in ensuring the nine men weren’t on the end of a demoralising hiding.
"It's going to be tough,” he said. “It will be similar to Feyenoord.
"We will have to sit down and analyse them and see where they are at their best. That's going to be our focus this week.
“Every team in the Champions League is a tough side so we know we need to bring our top game to go and get a result.
"[The Feyenoord game] showed me personally that I can play at that level really. I had never played in a Champions League game and to go there up against the Dutch champions was big for me.
"And up until the second sending off I thought we were comfortable. So, I took from that game that I can be comfortable playing at that level.
"There is room for improvement - there always is. But if I can go and perform in the Champions League personally and us as a team, we should really keep it going on weekends and in the league too.”
The importance of using Celtic Park to their advantage is also not lost on the players, with the famed atmosphere of European nights in Glasgow’s East End not being matched by results over recent years.
"I haven't experienced it as a player,” Scales said.
"I was there against Real Madrid last year when I was on loan at Aberdeen, so I experienced it from the stands and it was amazing. I can't wait to experience it on the pitch.
"It's definitely a tough place for other teams to come. If we can pick up points at home, it can leave us in a good position.
"We have to make it a fortress and take points off these big teams when they come to Celtic Park.
"We know we can because we have the ability. We need to make it really difficult for them and see how well we can do in the group.”
As for Motherwell, the heartbreaking loss is their third narrow defeat on the bounce, and there is little doubt they feel hard done by not to have a decent return of points from more than decent performances in all of them.
Goalscorer Spittal is sure they can put their disappointment behind them though and will start to pick up results as they go into a more favourable run of fixtures.
“We’ve got to take heart from that,” Spittal said.
“If you don’t take courage from these performances…
“It’s been a tough run these past few games when we’ve played against arguably the three form teams in the league or the three best teams in the league.
“I think we’ve more than matched them in large spells. It’s just frustrating when you put so much into games and don’t get anything.
“That was probably the best we’ve played over the season as a collective. We could see that by the scenes at the end when Celtic scored that they know they have been in a right tough game.
“It’s really frustrating but everyone can see the way we are performing. It’s important that we stick to that and keep the levels the way that they are.
“If we keep performing like that we are going to win more than we lose.”
