IF you're going to maintain your record of failing to win away from home in the Champions League you might as well do it on the night you qualify for the last 16 for the second season in a row. The conspiracy theory that would have accompanied Celtic's journey into the knockout stage would have been that they had willing a ccomplices in the shape of an AC Milan side who gave them a helping hand over the finishing line by not lifting their game above the level of a training exercise. Benfica did their bit for the integrity of the tournament by going to Donetsk and getting the result Celtic needed from them but that was the story of the night. There was nothing in it for Milan against Celtic, other than to get the result which ensured they topped Group D. There was everything in it for the Portuguese who had a place in the UEFA Cup at stake if they won. Doing just enough, and no more, can be commonplace in the game when pragmatism takes precedence over any other consideration. Celtic did actually lose this match and may think they've endured enough nights in Europe where luck deserted them to have earned respite courtesy of Benfica. The missed opportunity from Filippo Inzaghi when he headed the ball into Artur Boruc's hands from five yards out suggested more than a helping hand. But Inzaghi claimed a personal best with the goal that beat Celtic and lengthened the night for their troubled support. It had seemed Celtic required the kind of faith that's said to move mountains, which might have explained the high number of green and white clad supporters mixing with the more conventional tourists in Milan's breathtaking cathedral earlier in the day. Sportsmen and their followers often seek the help of an outside agency and Celtic's case was one for which the offering up of prayers originally seemed like a sound idea. It wasn't just the fact they were taking on the reigning champions of Europe because Celtic were also up against the most trophy-laden club on the continent. AC Milan and Boca Juniors, who meet in the Club World Cup final in Japan next week, share the global distinction of having won 17 international titles each. The Italians also have on their side a player, Clarence Seedorf, who's a walking quiz question - the one about which man has won the Champions League with three different clubs? The fact Inzhagi wanted to claim his 63rd goal in Europe and consign German Gerd Muller to second place in the list of all-time top scorers was almost an incidental. And so was the fact Kaka displayed his Balon d'Or, Europe's Player of the Year award, before kick-off. Even the Celtic players delayed the start of their traditional pre-match huddle to applaud the Brazilian. Paul Hartley went one stage further by shaking Kaka's hand while play was stopped so that Seedorf could receive treatment for an injury. The scale of what Celtic were trying to achieve looked to be further underlined by the statistical barrier they had to get across for a second successive season. UEFA's army of administrators have worked out that 70 per cent of the sides who go through to the last 16 only do so after winning their first group stage match. Gordon Strachan's side lost to Manchester United at Old Trafford last term and still made the knockout phase with a game to spare. This season the first match was lost to Shakhtar in the Ukraine. And the manner of that defeat suggested defensive frailty that wouldn't lead to an extended stay in the competition. So they should be given credit for achieving what they have done, irrespective ofMilan's suspect level of endeavour. This was a Celtic side with a quartet of central defenders making up their back four, denied their midfield inspiration and deadball expert, Shunsuke Nakamua, due to injury and never having managed to win away in the Champions League. It wasn't comparing like with like and if the contest had been in a boxing ring the Board of Control might have refused to sanction it on the grounds it was a dangerous mismatch. But boxers aren't allowed help from outside when the bell rings and the roar that ignited the night came in five minutes when news broke of Benfica taking the lead against Shakhtar. The home crowd were more blase about the occasion in a half-empty stadium and if it hadn't been for the Celtic fans the ground would have had all the atmosphere of a library. The Italians were more bemused by the sight of their guests once more erupting in delight midway through the first half as the improved score from Ukraine was relayed. Celtic's fans were sitting up in the gods. It looked as if they were closer to their maker than the pitch but the game was an incidental. They were consumed by events in Donetsk and felt less than enthralled by what was going on in front of them. Shakhtar's goal added a degree of tension that was palpably absent from what passed for a European tie. Milan had an obligation to be as troublesome to Celtic as Benfica were to their adversaries but their commitment could easily have been questioned until Inzaghi's goal. The question of why it took Celtic 39 minutes to have their first shot, through Jiri Jarosik, was another issue - as was the dire nature of the performances of players such as Gary Caldwell, Jarosik and Scott Brown. There was no chance of it being packaged as a DVD for the Christmas market, regardless of the result's significance. At this rate, Celtic might take over the 10-year record of failure to win away from home which Olympiakos had in the Champions League until they beat Werder Bremen at the 32nd attempt last month. But that won't trouble Celtic as they plan for the sudden-death phase after a game that looked to be in the grip of rigor mortis. But they owe Benfica big time for reading the Last Rites over Shakhtar's dream. | 
