Igor Jovićević may have been the happiest of the two managers after his Shakhtar Donetsk side held Celtic to a draw in Warsaw.
For large parts of the game in the Polish capital, Celtic were in total control of the game and must have felt like they deserved much more from the game.
After taking an early lead through Japanese midfielder Reo Hatate, the Scottish champions had to weather the storm for the latter part of the first half.
Ange Postecoglou’s side still created more in the match with Shakhtar only having two shots on target with Mudryk’s effort equalling the scoreline.
Jovićević’s reaction at the end of the 90 minutes said it all with the Croatian manager collapsing to his knees and pointing to the heavens.
Celtic looked like the only team interested in winning the match with the Ukrainian side fairly happy to take a draw.
“This was one of the most important games for at least 20 years,” said Igor Jovićević speaking to the Glasgow Times.
“It was a great game, very dynamic. Celtic are very dynamic, very aggressive, they move very fast and we knew that we would be facing aggressive pressing from their side.
“If you look at the way they played against Real Madrid, yes Real Madrid won 3-0 but for the first 60 minutes Celtic were actually dominating. That is not by chance, it is the way they play.
“They are very experienced and a very strong team. They are super fast and a super aggressive team and we knew exactly what we were about to face. The pressing, especially in the beginning, was incredible.
“We tried to hold them off and we failed, they did score a goal, but then we felt the support given to us by the fans and that was incredible.
“This game is something to be really proud about. This game has shown our character and what we are capable of.
“We turned the impossible into possible, we turned the improbable into probable. This was quite a game to be proud about.”
Shakhtar would have taken a lot of belief into this game following their 4-1 hammering of RB Leipzig the previous week.
It looks as though they caught the Bundesliga side at the right time as the result was a bit of a smash and grab.
Goals will eventually come for this Celtic side in the Champions League but is is hoped that it will be sooner rather than later.
