RYAN CHRISTIE remembers his excitement when Celtic reached the Uefa Cup final in Seville.
Nine years later, he was in the crowd as Neil Lennon’s class of 2012 beat Barcelona at Parkhead.
Growing up, Christie always had a dream of being part of a special Euro occasion like that.
On Thursday night in Rome, it came true as Celtic beat Lazio 2-1 at the Stadio Olimpico.
Christie helped make club history and spoke of his pride at being part of one of their greatest wins.
The midfielder said: “It was unbelievable.
“It has to rank right up there with anything we’ve done, just in terms of the scale of the result.
“It meant so much, progressing at such an early stage from such a hard group. It’s really special to get that kind of result.
“You know about the previous achievements at the club, Barcelona, Seville and so on.
“To go and do something to be part of that history was something special.
“At the start of the season you hope to be involved in these kinds of big nights.”
Celtic have three wins and a draw from their first four group games as they sealed qualification in record time.
The Hoops were outstanding against Lazio in Glasgow but Christie ranks the Rome display as even better.
After a shaky start, Celtic got to grips with the game and could have been ahead before Olivier Ntcham’s late winner.
James Forrest’s equaliser had got them back in the game and the second half was wide open.
Lennon’s men played with composure, with Christie key alongside Callum McGregor and Scott Brown in midfield.
The Scotland star believes that the performance shows how far Celtic have come on that stage.
They are now unbeaten in six Euro away ties this season and confidence is soaring.
He added: “I think the bravery we showed on the ball was incredible.
“To go away to Lazio and get a result was one thing.
“But to actually play some good football as well and score some good goals along the way was a credit to everybody involved.”
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Celtic did have to defend for spells in Rome — with Lazio again denied by the brilliance of Fraser Forster.
The English keeper pulled off three top saves in the second half and Christie branded him inspirational.
The Southampton loanee again showed he is the man for the big Euro occasion.
And while Ntcham took the glory for his sublime finish, Christie was quick to praise Forster too.
He said: “We had to show a lot of resilience again. We went a goal down but there was no panicking.
“We managed to feel our way in to the game and we got the goal before half-time.
“The second half was really strange. It was end-to-end and it was almost like a game of basketball.
“We had to rely on Fraser a wee bit towards the end, but to go away to Lazio and create that many chances was something else.
“When you see someone like Fraser making those saves it really drives you on to try to win.”
Celtic lead Group E on ten points and cannot be caught by Lazio or Rennes. Cluj are still in the running to top the table and there is work to be done by the Hoops.
Christie said: “The next thing for us is finishing top of the group.
“It would put us in a better place in terms of the draw for the next phase in the knockout stages.
“We are desperate to finish top. We’ll still be full of confidence when we have Rennes at home and then away to Cluj.
“It’s amazing to have the knockout stages tied up already but we want to finish strong and win the group.”
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Christie was subbed late on in Rome after putting in a power of work but he insists he will be ready to go again when Motherwell arrive at Celtic Park.
He said: “Yeah, I was pretty tired on Thursday. I knew that was what was going to be required though.
“That’s what pushes us through and gets us the big results when we need them. To do it against Lazio was unbelievable.”