LEIGH Griffiths delighted last night in denying Astana's outspoken players the chance to avenge last year's Champions League qualifying defeat to Celtic. Striker Patrick Twumasi had spoken confidently pre-match about how this play-off round tie was a chance for the Kazakhs to atone for their defeat in the third round 12 months ago. But while it took a last minute penalty from Moussa Dembele to seal a 3-2 aggregate win, on last night's evidence the difference between the two teams has grown into a yawning chasm in the last 12 months. While Griffiths said Celtic still had to be careful ahead of the 8,000-mile round trip to Astana next Tuesday, this 5-0 win was perhaps as straightforward a final round Champions League qualifying win for a Scottish club as any in the history of our game.

"They were all full of talk about how they were destined for the Champions League," said Griffiths, who tormented the Kazakhs all night, even though he ended up with just three assists. "You need to remember we put them out last season. They need to start doing their talking on the pitch. We don’t shout from the rooftops. We don’t get above our station. We do our talking on the pitch as you saw tonight.

"It was magic," he added. "If someone had said to you before the game it would be 5-0 you’d have snapped their hand off – in fact you’d have snapped both of them off. This time last year we struggled to get through these ties – especially against Astana when it took a last minute penalty. Everyone was a bit nervous thinking it was going to go to extra-time. You see how far we’ve come in a year. We absolutely blew them away and we’ve punished them in the end.

"Next week we’ll need to be cautious. We don’t want to concede. If we do there won’t be any drama. We’re under no illusions as to how difficult a task it’s going to be. But we don’t need to win the game. That’s the good thing. We’ll go over there with caution and hopefully after the 90 minutes we’re through to the Champions League."