IT ended as it began with lusty songs of celebration puncturing the chill February air in the East End of Glasgow.

Celtic Park, with not a seat to be had, bounced and rocked as the Hoops and Inter Milan put on a show of pure football theatre for 90 pulsating minutes.

In a stadium that has seen so many heady thrills against Continental opposition under the bright lights, this was yet another of those nights with a dramatic, thrilling climax -a last gasp goal to level the scores and pull Celtic into a game that had looked to be beyond them within minutes of kick-off.

"It is up to us, to everyone at Celtic Park to build up our own legends," read an elaborate banner unfurled by a section of the home support with a giant picture of a TV screen - a dig at the recent £5bn Sky and BT deal with the English Premiership which will see clubs south of the border loll in riches unimaginable to those in the SPFL.

Lisbon Lion Bertie Auld had beseeched the Hoops support before the game to find their voice - and he wouldn't have been disappointed.

But when diminutive Inter Milan striker Xherdan Shaqiri - swinging his massive arms and looking as though he was sprinting off to the world's strongest man contest after he'd finished with the football - punctured the atmosphere inside the ground with less than four minutes on the clock there was a fear that Celtic would be left gazing longingly at just what money can buy.

Shaqiri, a January signing that cost the Italians just over €14m, got the first. Within ten minutes Rodrigo Palacio had netted a second and the noise inside the stadium was in danger of choking into a death rattle.

Watched by some of the Lisbon Lions who famously led the club to their monumental European triumph against Inter Milan in May 1967 - Celtic posted a reminder that while a little bit of heart does not buy much in the modern transfer market it can still go a long way.

If some of the individual mistakes on the park would have made them wince from their seat in the stand, the Lions would have drawn some satisfaction at the spirit with which Celtic roared back into the tie.

And onto the stage came Stuart Armstrong. The midfielder, barely at the club long enough to know the doorman by name and making his first appearance for the club at Celtic Park pulled one back and, a minute later, pressurised Hugo Campagnaro into prodding the ball into his own net.

By the time he went off to a standing ovation with 15 minutes of the game remaining, Celtic Park was still heaving. A howler from keeper Craig Gordon - one of Celtic's stand-out performers this season - had given Milan the advantage on the cusp of the interval, but still Celtic fought and probed and harried.

They got their reward with a dramatic finale when John Guidetti's acrobatic effort arched into the net to give Celtic a vital lifeline.

A draw that felt like a win.

They meet in Milan next Thursday - and the dream lives on.