CELTIC’S European campaign may well still end next week in frozen Russia but what they did against Zenit St Petersburg in Glasgow was to win back respect and lots of it on the European stage.

True, their opponents were rusty, having only now emerged from hibernation following a two-month winter break, but nothing should take away from a performance full of invention and excitement.

And they won the first leg.

This was Brendan Rodgers’s Celtic close to their very best. They fully deserved their win. It was a pleasure to watch, especially after some dispiriting Champions League performances we’ve had to sit through this season.

Read more: Celtic striker Moussa Dembele urges caution ahead of Zenit return leg

The manager didn’t have a single failure on the pitch including the substitutes.

Callum McGregor, who has become something of a European specialist, operated superbly in the No10 position, and beside him was Eboue Kouassi, a surprise starter, who enjoyed himself immense. Scott Brown was superb, Olivier Ntcham a star in a crowded midfield, while Moussa Dembele really looked the part.

However, the pick of them all was Kieran Tierney.

This remarkable 20-year-old footballer terrorised Zenit on their right side, roasting players as if they weren’t there all night and looking every inch a lad born to play at this level.

Okay, so 1-0 lead might not be enough. The return will be hugely different and far more difficult. That’s how football works.

But do you know something, Celtic made the top scorers in the Europa League look a level below average.

And after what was the best performance of the season, Rodgers and his players have given themselves on hell of a chance.

The first-half was a joy to watch. Nobody wanted it to end apart from the Zenit players who had been given something of a run-around.

Read more: To have and to hold: Callum McGregor gives Celtic a precious lead to take to Russia

It was impossible to recall a decent touch made by a Zenit player in the opening five minutes, as the ball zipped by them.

The Celtic’s midfield seemed to be in harmony, Dembele strong and sharp, while Tierney did more in these opening stages than most left-backs achieve in an entire match.

There was a great example of this when Tierney charged past two Zenit players, his cross was defended and when Zenit broke, with Emiliano Rigoni thinking he was going in on goal, Tierney got back to retain possession.

Celtic began to create chances on eight minutes. Dembele held up the ball, played in Ntcham with a reverse pass and while Zenit goalkeeper Andrei Lunev deserved praise for his save, the young Frenchman really ought to have made it 1-0.

For all Celtic’s good play, they almost gifted Zenit a goal on 12 minutes.

James Forrest for once was heavy with a touch in his attempt to control a far from easy pass on the byeline with his chest; Zenit went through the gears with Domenico Criscito and Daler Kuzyaev combined to get the ball into Celtic’s box which Anton Zabolotny got to, forcing De Vries into a fine save.

However, apart from that, it was all Celtic.

On 21 minutes and after sustained pressure from the home side, Dembele and Kouassi had the ball nicked off their toes as they were about to shoot inside the Russians’ area. Moments later and Ntcham superb touch from a Brown pass got him to the byeline, and his cross resulted in a McGregor shot deflected over.

Read more: Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers: We have given ourselves a great opportunity​

Celtic were winning all the second balls and even when they did lose possession, it was grabbed back before Zenit could do a thing.

Twice within four minutes, great team play should have brought an opener.

Firstly, on the half our, McGregor zipped a ball across the Zenit’s six-yard box, which was missed by Dembele and Tierney.

And then Tierney got by his markers – again – the cross was identical to previous effort and while Dembele and Kouassi both ended up in the back of the net, the ball did not.

When the break did come, and with no goals to show for all the effort, it was hard to shrug of the feeling that Celtic had been here before in Europe.

For all their fine play, they could not capitalise and in such matches, scoring when things are going well is vital.

However, Celtic continued to dominate possession.

A wonderful Tierney cross-field pass from the left picked out Kouassi who tried to pick out the run of McGregor, only for Lunev to read the situation and collect the ball.

Kouassi was really getting into the game now, it was his best showing in the hoops, and he tested Zenit keeper Lunev with a decent drive from way outside the box.

Rodgers threw on Charly Musonda who replaced Kouassi, who had just been booked, on 73 minutes.

And the on-loan man produced some moments, plural, of brilliance which led to the goal with 12 minutes to go.

Musonda had three men around him inside his own half and on the byeline and yet still managed to find Dembele with an exquisite pass.

The striker got himself upfield, Musonda followed, the ball broke back to him and his lobbed pass picked out McGregor, he controlled on his chest before producing a stunning shot which set Celtic Park into a state of bedlam.

And while Zenit put some crosses into the Celtic box, the much-maligned defence held still.