Given their prolonged absence from the Champions League, it can be easy to forget that Celtic were the first British side to win the European Cup back in 1967.

The Glasgow side have enjoyed plenty of iconic European moments over the years, from wins over Barcelona and Manchester United to multiple visits to the European Cup final.

Perhaps their fondest memory of the 21st century was the club’s run to the 2003 UEFA Cup final and two members of that team, Chris Sutton and Neil Lennon, chatted to Balls this week about their memories of that run, along with some other European moments with Celtic.

Celtic 2003: Lennon and Sutton share memories of Liverpool and Valencia nights in Glasgow

Celtic enjoyed plenty of iconic moments in the 2000s in Europe, but the UEFA Cup run of 2002-03 was undoubtedly the highlight.

Along the way to Seville, Celtic (managed by Martin O’Neill) defeated Blackburn, Celta Vigo, and Stuttgart before meeting with Liverpool in the quarter-finals. The all-British tie stuck out in Chris Sutton’s mind when recalling the campaign – mainly due to the fact he missed the second-leg after an injury caused by his own teammate.

The Liverpool game…a couple of early goals in the Celtic Park game and then Bobo Baldi – the stupid idiot! – broke my wrist in the league cup final against Rangers. I went up for a header and called “Chris’s ball”, as you do, and Bobo didn’t listen to me. He landed on my back and I snapped my wrist, so I didn’t play in the game at Anfield.

I remember sitting watching the game on the television. It was one of those where…I’m not saying I fancied Celtic to win the game, because Liverpool were so, so strong. But it absolutely didn’t surprise me, because of the calibre of player Celtic had at the time.

Alan Thompson’s free-kick…he says he meant to hit it under the wall, I’m not so sure he did. John Hartson’s goal that night will go down as one of the greatest ever European goals for Celtic, it was special.

Again, very, very sweet for Scottish football. It wasn’t just Blackburn who Celtic had demolished in European football, it was Liverpool – an iconic club. Over the two games, we thoroughly deserved it.

The Liverpool game is among the most memorable in Celtic’s history, and one of the iconic images of that cup run is the entire stadium of Liverpool and Celtic fans alike singing ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ together ahead of both legs.

Despite that, Neil Lennon’s memory of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ comes from a very different European memory for Celtic.

In the 2001-02 season, the Hoops met Valencia in the third round of the UEFA Cup. The Spanish side had reached the previous two Champions League finals, and so it was a tough ask for Celtic to progress.

Ultimately, they would come up short, but only after a second-leg penalty shootout. Lennon remembers the rendition of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ ahead of extra-time in that second-leg as being especially moving.