Celtic Park has a new hero after Dedryck Boyata’s late Champions League

Domestically Celtic are a target for any team they come up against and teams will have different ideas over hoe to keep Armstrong quiet in games this season.

Deila’s men had beaten Icelandic part-times Stjarnan 6-1 on aggregate in their previous qualifier but Qarabag delivered on their promise to be a much tougher obstacle. It is nearly like having an extra goal when you don’t concede at home.

“I believe in my team, but we have the respect for the opponent”.

Even after Celtic had finally found a breakthrough in the latter stages, there was still a nervous edge to the game given the magnitude of what is at stake for the victors. “We had possession and pressure on them, but we have to turn that into chances”. That’s okay. The result reflected the game.

Gordon, who extended his contract earlier in the day, then made an unorthodox save from Almeida’s whipped-in free-kick, after Virgil van Dijk had been booked for a foul on Taghiyev.

“Qarabag are a very good team”.

He said: “We knew we were going to play against a good team and that it would be hard here and 1-0 is good for Celtic”. We have created a good chance to go through with a 1-0 win.

Striker Nadir Ciftci had been wasteful in front of goal, leading fans to question why Deila did not go with Griffiths from the off and then waited until the 69th minute to throw him on.

Qarabag fired a few warning shots of their own when they did venture into the Celtic half, although the closest they came in the opening 45 minutes was when Richard curled a first-time strike wide of Craig Gordon’s post from 20 yards.

“In the second half, we got better”.

Celtic’s start to the second-half revealed more zest if not more potency.

The biggest call of the evening was the starting jersey handed to Nadir Ciftci at the expense of Leigh Griffiths, while Emilio Izaguirre was drafted back in for the injured Charlie Mulgrew.

“It wasn’t so hard to make because Leigh has been struggling with toothache”, added Deila.

Qarabag’s coach Gurban Gurbanov was relatively content with the outcome and insists his team are capable of turning the tie around in Baku. I think we are individually good and have strong qualities.

“We tried hard to get an away goal but couldn’t achieve it. But I am very hopeful we can score in the second leg”. I liked the way they played tonight.