RONNY DEILA, the Celtic manager, could not hide his delight after his team battled to the goalless draw they required to overcome FK Qarabag in Baku last night which meant they progressed to the Champions League play-off round.
The Norwegian punched the air before even entering the post-match press conference as he left a dressing room of tired but delighted players who knew they had turned in a professional job.
Celtic as a club have taken bigger scalps than the best team in Azerbaijan but this was an awkward tie from the first to last minute and, indeed, Deila does not believe his side will face stronger opposition in the next round.
Deila will find out on Friday who will stand in the way of Celtic and the group stage and while that is far from important, in the bowels of the Tofiq Bahramov Stadium, that was a matter that could wait. For the moment, he was one happy man.
He spoke of pride in his players and, while the performance was more guts than guile, it was a far cry from the tortures he went through 12 months ago.
"It was an exciting game, right to the end there was so much nerves. I am proud of the team spirit that we had tonight," said Deila.
"The midfield won balls all over the pitch and the defence was tight behind them.
"Defensively we were very, very good, and offensively we should have punished them more when we won the ball in so many good situations.
"But it was hot out there and the players got tired against a good team when they kept the ball. I'm just very happy and proud of the boys.
"Last season we talked about losing too many goals. In the league we were very good in defence and now we have also done it in Europe and that is a very good improvement."
Deila was quick to praise Qarabag, claiming they are as good anyone left in the qualifying section of the tournament.
He said: "I admire Qarabag. I think they are a very, very good football team, the way they play I hope to see Celtic play like that in the future with no fear on the ball – attacking football.
"That's what we want to do in Europe so a lot of credit to them. But you saw that we were a team, staying together with good communication and a lot of discipline.
"They had a lot of legs, a lot of running all over the pitch for 90 minutes, winning balls all over, and then we can improve the play as well."
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