One of Celtic's finest hours this century came in the 2002-03 season, as the Scottish giants reached the UEFA Cup final.
Under the stewardship of Martin O'Neill, the Hoops went close to claiming only a second-ever European trophy, before a heartbreaking extra-time defeat to Porto.
That Porto side would go on to win the following season's Champions League under Jose Mourinho, and there was certainly no shame for Celtic in losing a thriller in Seville. The Scottish side had done themselves proud with some big scalps en route to the decider.
Along the way, they had defeated two Premier League sides, with Blackburn Rovers vanquished in the second round, before Celtic made light of the might of Liverpool in the quarter-finals.
Though the tie against Liverpool is perhaps the most memorable moment for neutrals from Celtic's march to the final, there was an added edge to their defeat of Blackburn.
In charge of the 1995 Premier League champions was none other than ex-Rangers man Graeme Souness, who stoked the flames with condescending comments about Celtic after the first leg. In an interview this week, Martin O'Neill hinted that Souness and the English sides' attitude towards Celtic had made their victories all the sweeter.
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Martin O'Neill explains particularly sweet element of Celtic's UEFA Cup final run
Martin O'Neill appeared on Straight Talk with Peter Martin this week, and reminisced on Celtic's iconic run to the 2003 UEFA Cup final.
The ex-Ireland manager revealed that the attitude of the English teams towards Celtic had perhaps subconsciously fired him up even further for the mega ties against Blackburn and Liverpool.
O'Neill said that he perceived the two English sides as looking down on Celtic and Scottish football in general.
Here was the thing that I've thought about since...and maybe did do [then] but to a lesser degree: I thought that we were flying the flag for Scottish football.
In the sense...I was kind of getting fed up. We were playing Blackburn Rovers - Blackburn were sixth in the league. If Blackburn do us, then they'll say, 'Oh, what about Scottish football?'
When we beat Liverpool, I really did feel great about that.
The first leg against Blackburn at Celtic Park saw the visitors dominate possession before Henrik Larsson snatched a dramatic late winner for the Bhoys.
Host Peter Martin recalled contentious comments after that first leg from Blackburn manager (and old enemy of Celtic) Graeme Souness. After his side's defeat in Glasgow, Souness had described the game as 'men against boys.'
O'Neill went on to say that his team (and fans) had not needed any extra motivation, but said that Blackburn had badly misplayed the buildup to the second leg.
Blackburn played great against us in the first game at Celtic Park and didn't deserve to lose - we scored a late goal in the game. But I knew that we were ready for the Blackburn [away] game.
There are two things about this - and I know I've mentioned this - it was really pitch dark when we were going along that straight raod to Ewood Park. There's a pub on the left-hand side. All the Celtic fans saw the bus coming and came out, gave us a big cheer. You thought, 'Well, at least we're not alone here.'
And then, when the players are going out 45 minutes beforehand, you see the stand on my right-hand side absolutely packed [with Celtic fans]
[Host: "What a mistake by Blackburn."] Absolutely. Honestly, I knew we were going to win. The players didn't need stoking up, they were ready for the game, the fans were ready for the game. I think I could have had a cigarette and been up in the boardroom and we still would have won the game.
Celtic ultimately went on to win 2-0 at Ewood Park and claim a memorable 3-0 aggregate victory.
Though they may be a way off returning to such heights any time soon, the memories of the march to Seville linger on to this day.
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