FORFAR midfielder Mark Millar might not know it, but he played a major part in his old club Celtic’s Champions League win over Anderlecht.

Football, it is said, is a simple game. And it is, to a point. But when you look at Celtic’s opening goal on Wednesday night, it is little wonder that the complexity of the 28-pass move before Leigh Griffiths prodded the ball into the net had manager Brendan Rodgers smiling knowingly at the hours of work on the training field that had gone into its creation.

And yet, when it came to delivering the coup de grace, the pass from Olivier Ntcham perfectly into the path of the piercing run of Tierney up the left, it was a simple motion from the full-back that pointed the way to success. And one he wouldn’t have developed as a habit, had it not been for Millar.

“In terms of the assist the other night, it was Mark Millar at Celtic who used to say to me when I was younger to point where I wanted the ball because it helps your team-mate,” said Tierney. Perhaps his team-mates should have tried it earlier, such was the wayward nature of Ntcham’s passing until that exquisite point.

“People have noticed it before,” he went on. “I'll point to the space or if I come short I'll do it with my other hand. That helps the team and myself.

“The ball from Olivier the other night was perfect – it almost stopped dead when I got to it. He couldn't have weighted it any better. It was a great move. We had Moussa Dembele's goal at St Johnstone last year which was brilliant. But I was more directly involved in this one and I think we had 28 passes leading up to it.To get that in Europe away from home, in a 3-0 win with a clean sheet, is great.”

The stories of Tierney graduating from the terracing to the Celtic first team are nothing new, and every time this side under Brendan Rodgers emulates a feat achieved by the great teams the boy from Motherwell watched growing up, tales of what he was doing the last time Celtic reached those heights emerge.

If he gets tired of being asked such questions, he is too polite to say, but such is his Enthusiasm you certainly don’t get tired of hearing his responses. And so, what exactly does he remember of the night that Celtic last won away from home in the Champions League, some five years ago against Spartak Moscow? And how did the feeling of playing in the next one compare?

"I remember watching that, it was a great game and Jamesie [Forrest] scored,” he recalled. “It was another great victory. I was 15, pretty young, man.

"It was an amazing feeling after the [Anderlecht] game. Even before it, I was in the toilet and I could hear the fans singing my song an hour before the game, so the fans were in great spirits for the full trip and they deserve a victory because they follow Celtic everywhere.

"I picked out my family the other night. There was four of them over and to see them in there and know the atmosphere is good, and you get a great result to make Celtic fans proud, that’s your ambition.”

Tierney will now turn his attention to international duty with Scotland, but with a likely switch to the other side of the field, it is doubtful whether he will be able to produce an assist such as the one in Belgium for Griffiths against Slovakia or Slovenia.

“It's hard to get your head around the fact you might be playing at right-back for Scotland because I'm still young,” he said.

“I'm still trying to do well in my own position, never mind flip over to the other side. I'm not exactly known for my right foot.

“So, it's difficult, but the manager has faith in me. He's played me there in some big games so far and the team are on a good run.

"I'm happy to do it. But I've asked Andy [Robertson] if he fancies swapping. I've said to him: 'Is it no your turn'?"