Mikael Lustig reckons epic Celtic comeback from Brendan Rodgers proves key decision right after Gibraltar nightmare

At the time he was the most unlikely of heroes. And, even now some seven years on, Mikael Lustig isn’t entirely sure what on earth he was doing up there in the first place.

But, 22 minutes into a match which Celtic and new boss Brendan Rodgers simply had to win, it was the Swedish right back who popped up with a curling left-foot shot. And it turned out to be one of the greatest nerve settlers of all time. With Rodgers still reeling from that nightmarish opening night in Gibraltar against Lincoln Red Imps, the Northern Irishman returned to Glasgow requiring an immediate and emphatic response to reassure the locals he really did know what he was doing after all.

And from the moment Lustig opened Celtic’s account for the season with that breakthrough goal, it’s fair to say Rodgers never looked back. The second leg was eventually wrapped up with a 3-0 win, clearing Celtic’s path towards a golden ticket into the group stages of the Champions League and a domestic season of unparalleled success. But, speaking exclusively to Record Sport yesterday, a cold shiver ran down Lustig’s spine at the very mention of how it all began on that roasting rock in the Iberian Peninsula.

He said: “We were playing against a team of firemen and policemen – guys who were working in day jobs 50 per cent of the time. So you can imagine how we felt. It was a really, really strange game but we knew we were the better team.

"It was just a really crazy 24 hours. I wouldn’t say we went there thinking we were going to win 10-0 or anything like that. But obviously, when you are going to play a team from Gibraltar, we’re thinking we’re going to win here quite comfortably. But straight away we realised it wasn’t going to be that easy. They had a couple