THE shell-shocked looks on Miku's old Valencia team-mates's faces told the whole story.

David Villa and Jordi Alba might have gone on to become world superstars with Barcelona but here they were, wandering around Parkhead, angry and disorientated after a Celtic side, living off scraps of possession, had inflicted one of the more humbling defeats in the club's history.

The on-loan Venezuelan striker attempted to offer an apology of sorts to his old pals but this was Parkhead on a big European night. They really should have known better.

Read more: Miku: I knew Celtic's Barcelona heroes would go on to bigger and better things

Both these teams would qualify from this Champions League group even if the competition didn't end auspiciously for either of them.

While Celtic went down 5-0 on aggregate at the last 16 stage to Juventus, a few of the flaws pointed up by Celtic would be exploited by eventual winners Bayern Munich by a stunning 7-0 aggregate semi-final score. But that night, on the 125th anniversary of Celtic's formation back in November 2012, lives on in the club's folklore.

How the club would cherish the same outcome when the Catalan side, 7-0 victors at the Camp Nou in the group's opening match day, return to Glasgow this tomorrow night, a result which would give them a fighting chance of surviving in European football beyond Christmas.

Read more: Miku: I knew Celtic's Barcelona heroes would go on to bigger and better things

Miku stops short of claiming it as the best victory of his career but, one of only 14 appearances during his season-long loan at Parkhead, it is clearly a memory that he cherishes. He made it his personal mission that night to be a pest to Alex Song, who played in place of Sergio Busquets at the base of the Barcelona midfield.

"I don't know if it is my best-ever victory," the 31-year-old told Herald Sport. "Sometimes in the Spanish league I would win against Real Madrid, Barcelona or Atletico and that was always wonderful but that night was just special. We won against the best team in history I think. We did a great job and Celtic Park was unbelievable. It really is an incredible memory.

"Of course, the coach Neil Lennon explained to us very well what we had to do that game," he added. "We knew we would have to defend for the whole game because Barcelona would have the ball. We knew we would have to show great teamwork, with everybody running and everybody helping each other. Then when we had the ball, we tried to keep it and slow the game down.

"Of course they were going to press us when they lose it. But for us, especially for the ones in attack, we had to keep the ball and allow the midfield to get up and join us. Georgios [Samaras] and myself tried to keep it and receive fouls. That allowed our players to rest and more time when Barcelona didn't have the ball."

If it was a result which caused the rest of European football to sit up and take notice, Miku always knew that this approach could bear fruit against Tito Vilanova's side. "I wasn't surprised that we won because three or four years before I had won against Barcelona with Getafe with pretty much the same tactics," said Miku.

"You need to play with a lot of concentration. You can't have even one mistake because Barcelona don't give you any chance when you make a mistake. They score a goal easy. That night, everything was okay, everybody did it, everybody did a good job and we won the game.

"When the game finished I went to speak with Jordi Alba and David Villa because they were with me at Valencia," he added. "They were surprised about the atmosphere at Celtic Park and of course they were angry because they lost the game. I told them that we had to play like that because it was our only chance to win the game."

After a season in Qatari football, Miku had a fine 2015-16 season with Rayo, scoring nine goals in 18 La Liga starts, even if the Madrid-based club found themselves relegated to the Segunda Division at the end of the season, going down 5-2 and 5-1 in their two meetings with Barcelona. Linked with clubs in Spain, Mexico, Greece and the English Championshi, Miku was held to his contract at Vallecano, but that expires this summer and he isn't sure what will happen next.

While his period at Celtic, on a season-long loan from Getafe wasn't entirely successful, wasn't entirely successful, the Veneuzelan enjoyed his time at Celtic and reckons the main problem was that he only ever agreed to a loan deal rather than a permanent transfer. He would have no problems returning to UK football.

Read more: Miku: I knew Celtic's Barcelona heroes would go on to bigger and better things

"I had a great time in Qatar and learned a lot about that culture but I came back to Spain because everybody knows me here, and I know all about the teams back here," he said. "Last year I made a great great season but the club didn't want to sell me. My contract is up at the end of the season and I don't know what will happen then.

"Of course I could come back to Scotland, or maybe to the UK, because I enjoyed a lot about my time over here," he added. 

"The problem I think was that I only went for a loan, one year, and by the time I understood the style of the game here had learned English and my wife could do everything alone, my contract had finished. Maybe the mistake was not going two or three years but you can never change the past, you know. I enjoyed a lot about that time in Scotland because I had great players all the time around me, the support was unbelievable and the people who worked at the club helped me all the time."