THIS has been the most wretched of European campaigns for Ronny Deila and Celtic but they at least brought it to an end it on a relative high.

From the botched attempt to qualify for the Champions League, to this joyless slog through the Europa League group stage, it has been one demoralising setback after another.

Here in Istanbul, however, with the pressure finally off and qualification for the last 32 already beyond them, they recovered from the loss of another calamitous goal to fight back to claim an unlikely draw.

Not for the first time Kris Commons was the hero in green, planting Mikael Lustig’s cross beyond the goalkeeper just minutes after emerging as a second-half substitute.

Celtic will argue they were overdue an upturn in fortunes although Fenerbahce will feel that it was the red card shown to Diego after 67 minutes that belatedly turned the match in the visitors’ favour.

A draw in such a febrile atmosphere will be clung on to by Deila as a sign that he remains the right man to lead Celtic through next summer’s Champions League qualifiers although, like a charity shop for vinyl lovers, he is developing an unfortunate habit of collecting unwanted records.

This is the first Celtic team to go through the group phase of either of the two major European competitions without collecting at least one victory along the way.

It is also the first time since 1997 that Celtic have made it through the qualifying rounds in Europe and then not won again.

On this their first ever competitive match in Turkey, they also extended their winless run in the Europa League to 11 games.

For the manner in which they fought back to rescue a point this will feel like a moral victory in many ways, as will the fact that – for the first time in the group phase – they shipped only the one goal.

But what a maddening, needless concession it was.

Each member of the Celtic backline - save, perhaps, the impressive Kieran Tierney – has been complicit in the goals lost throughout this campaign and this time it was the turn of goalkeeper Craig Gordon to assume the role of the fall guy when Fenerbahce moved ahead after 38 minutes.

Nadir Ciftci lost possession high up the pitch and Gokhan Gonul, Fenerbahce’s impressive captain, scampered towards the halfway line before sending Lazar Markovic running free.

The on-loan Liverpool forward easily shook off the attention of Stefan Johansen but seemed to be running out of ground as Gordon rushed out to seemingly clear the danger.

Instead, the ball somehow was able to squirm through the goalkeeper’s legs and into the path of Markovic who, from a tight angle, was able to spear a shot beyond some despairing sliding attempts to clear and into the net. Seven minutes before half time and all of Celtic’s stoic resistance had been undone in a flash.

Gordon glowered accusingly at the turf but there was no doubt this one was on him. It was particularly cruel on the Scotland goalkeeper given he had already made some big saves earlier in the half, turning an early Mehmet Topals shot onto the post, blocking a long-range pop from Diego and then ushering the rebound effort from Souza over the crossbar with the instinctive raising of his arm.

Gordon, though, is long enough in the tooth to know that it is the mistakes, not the saves, that people remember when the time comes to define any goalkeeper’s legacy.

An injury to Leigh Griffiths had afforded Ciftci a rare start on the return to the country of his birth and that lack of recent match action was telling during his one proper goalscoring chance.

Celtic, predictably, spent most of the 90 minutes on the back foot but one dead-eyed pass from Nir Bitton in the first half sent Ciftci in on goal and finally Celtic had a chance of note.

The striker’s first touch was decent but he then seemed to hesitate for too long and, before he could get his shot away, defender Abdoulaye Ba had galloped back to clear the danger.

Given he was also guilty of starting the move that led to the Fenerbahce goal, then almost did similar early in the second half when he sloppily gave away possession in a dangerous area, this would prove to be not the happiest of homecomings for the Turk.

Celtic had, in fact, looked relatively comfortable until the concession of the Markovic goal and threatened an equaliser before the half-time whistle sounded during a brief flurry of possession.

Lustig’s deflected effort from a corner fell agonisingly on the wrong side of the post and, from the subsequent deliver from Stuart Armstrong, Jozu Simunovic got up well but could not direct his header on target.

Fenerbahce only needed to coast through the second half to book their place in the last 32, but made life difficult for themselves when Diego got himself sent off for aiming a petulant kick at Johansen.

Deila made a double switch to try to take advantage and, within two minutes, that boldness had paid off, Commons converting Lustig’s cross with his first meaningful touch of the game.

The flares thrown by the Celtic supporters towards the home fans as they celebrated the equaliser will almost certainly land the club in more bother with UEFA but, that aside, this can at least be considered a positive way to bring the curtain down on a disappointing campaign.