Home truth Bhoys must learn if they want to progress in Europe

A gritty and professional performance in the San Siro gained them plenty of plaudits, but it won them no points and added another defeat to a long list of away-day disappointments.

Neil Lennon appeared to have finally cracked the code which had stumped Martin O'Neill and Gordon Strachan when he sent his side out to win in Moscow 11 months ago.

That was the club's first ever away win at Group Stage level. Prior to that 3-2 victory over Spartak, they had tried 17 times to get the elusive victory on the road and all they had to show for it was a commendable 1-1 draw in Barcelona in 2004.

The win in the Luzhniki Stadium was considered a huge monkey off their back, a feeling underpinned by a terrific performance in the Nou Camp in their very next match when Georgios Samaras gave the Hoops the lead.

Barca did manage to equalise through Andres Iniesta and only an injury-time goal from Jordi Alba denied Celtic the point they richly deserved.

But since then, coming home from Champions League games with nothing but disappointment in the bag has again become the norm. The performance in Lisbon when they lost 2-1 to Benfica last November was the poorest Fraser Forster and Co delivered in the entire 12-game European campaign last season.

They then failed to lay a punch on Juventus when they arrived in Turin trailing their Last 16 game 3-0 from the first leg in Glasgow.

Even in the qualifiers and play-offs for this season's competition proper, the efficiency which marked their wins in Helsinki and Helsingborgs last season was missing.

Against Cliftonville, on the plastic pitch at Solitude, Celtic were able to fire on only two cylinders and still win 3-0 because the Northern Ireland side were well below their standard.

Elfsborg were a much better team than Cliftonville, and it was a nervy, mis-firing show from Lennon's team as they drew 0-0 in Sweden to go through 1-0 on aggregate.

The play-off against Shakhter Karagandy in Astana really set alarm bells ringing as the Kazakhstan champions won 2-0. Sure, Celtic shipped cheap goals that night and, over the piece, were the better side, again, on a plastic pitch.

But it was another defeat on the road, and left them with a lot to do in the return at Parkhead.

Of course, AC Milan are a million miles ahead of Cliftonville, Elfsborg or Shakhter in terms of quality, and were odds-on to win on Wednesday.

Celtic played very well yet still failed to force their keeper, Christian Abbiati, to make a save of note. That fact can't be ignored.

A win was within the reach of the Hoops, but they could not grab it.

Milan's French defender, Phillippe Mexes, insisted: "I don't think we suffered that much, to be honest.

"We controlled the game well and managed to score in the final minutes."

Lennon will undoubtedly contest the first part of that assessment, but can't argue with the latter.

Celtic paid the ultimate price when they failed to react to two developing situations in the closing minutes, when tiredness was undoubtedly a mitigating factor.

Cristian Zapata was afforded too much time to walk on to a cross-field pass from Mario Balotelli, with Teemu Pukki unable to get goal-side of him and Anthony Stokes easily tricked by his initial dummy before the defender fired off a shot which was going wide until Emilio Izaguirre stuck out his weaker foot, while off balance, and deflect the ball into the net.

The second goal was even more disappointing, from a defensive point of view.

Balotelli conned the ref into giving him a free kick after the striker had been the instigator of an off-the-ball tangle with Brown. His strike was vicious and Forster did well to get a strong hand to it to keep it out.

But, while the Milan players were already on the move in anticipation of the ball coming back out, only Virgil van Dijk of all the Celts in the area reacted, and he was squeezed out in the race for the rebound.

Efe Ambrose, Mikael Lustig and Izaguirre were left in no doubt what the Dutchman thought of their torpor when they needed to be most alert.

But, the damage is done, and it can only be hoped the loss of a second goal does not come back to haunt the Hoops when the final count is made after Match Day Six.

Lennon will also have his fingers crossed that his courageous decision to go for it in the final 15 minutes - when he elected to replace the tiring Adam Matthews with Derk Boerrigter then Kris Commons with Teemu Pukki rather than send on Nir Biton to shore up the midfield and hold on to the point they were in line to earn - does not come back to bite him.

The good thing is they do not have long to fret over what might have been before they are pitched back into Champions League action.

The bad news is it is Barcelona they must confront next, on October 1, and the Catalan cracks confirmed with their 4-0 demolition of Ajax they are not planning to mess about when it comes to securing their place in the Last 16.

Going into such a game with something to show for their efforts in Milan would have made all the difference.

Now the pressure is on to make Parkhead a fortress and to take full points from three group games there.

The Barca players will need no reminding what a tough place it can be - even for the very best.

But, if Celtic's hopes of making the last 16 are not to be replaced by a battle for third spot, the pain of disappointments on the road has to be salved by the ecstasy of again downing the group favourites, then adding another three points when Ajax come to town on Match Day Three.

That will make travelling to Amsterdam in the next match much less daunting.