LAST week I had the privilege of completing every Celtic Fans pilgrimage when I chartered out to Lisbon to visit the Estadio Nacional where the greatest day in Celtic history took place.
It was a truly awe-inspiring experience that was the definition of a bucket list exercise which I am now delighted to have been apart of.
Walking through and under the entrance to the dugout, the place is stuff in Celtic memorabilia with the fan chant 'In the Heat of Lisbon' repeating on an endless loop and making it truly more than just a visit to an old stadium.
As I poked my head out of the tunnel in the hot Lisbon sunshine, and peaked out to see the entire surrounding stands and a perfectly kept pitch it would have been poor form not to grasp a clad of grass and shamrocks that grew on the pitch as a physical token of the turf that once welcomed those great men who made history in 1967.
Looking on that pitch, or coliseum, you could almost pin-point and imagine the exact position and moment where Stevie Chalmers directed the ball into the back of the Inter Milan net and sealed Celtic's greatest honour.
Directing my attention to the now media box, my keen imagination saw Caesar (Billy McNeill) standing tall and almost falling as he lofted the European Cup on the 25th of May 1967.
The history is something we all know, but that experience was nothing short of unbelievable and goosebump-inducing, standing on the shoulders of giants where those brave men once stood. It was truly an honour, and the best thanks and well-wishes must go to the local council who allowed the thousands of Celtic fans to make that pilgrimage across the week that was.
Anyway, despite a beautiful mini-hiatus from the hustle and bustle, a few days of sunshine, Sagres and a Pastéis de Nata or three, the game itself with Benfica had been held and built up on a pedastal.
An almost perfect trip until kick-off, you might say.
I don't come from a clan of Hoops fans who are unrealistic. I don't expect Celtic to walk in the shoes of the Lisbon Lions. I don't even expect this team to come close to that.
But, after years of watching the same mind-numbing mistakes on the biggest stage, you just hoped that something might click and the same old issues would not rear their head.
The hope was purely to see Celtic follow-up the Motherwell performance with a competitive game in Europe.
Who had four minutes on their bingo card then, eh? That is all it took for Dane Murray to put Celtic on the back foot with a daft lack of awareness from the centre half and allow the hosts to take an early lead.
In all honesty I think Celtic's pragmatic approach to the game cost them early on.
Sebastian Tounekti was hounded from the away end and despite being in nose bleed territory, watching the Tunisian winger was like a bludgeoning to the brain at times and made me feel nauseous for the best part of 45 minutes.
His lack of bravery and overall ability served as the detriment, paired with arguably the worst centre back partnership at the club, it was a recipe for disaster.
The second half was much more improved, the reintroduction of Callum Osmand and Hassan was the perfect remedy for about 35 minutes.
On another night Celtic may have found a second and potentially a third goal, but Benfica's fourth of the night spelled curtains for the away section.
I can genuinely sympathise with Kasper Hogh, however, as the big Dane just cannot seem to buy a goal at the moment and the form of Camilo Duran and the re-emergence of Osmand will no doubt make it tough for him to find his feet.
Anyway, despite the writing being on the wall and the fear that defeat to Hearts would spell a bitter end to Martin O'Neill's reign, Sunday looked to be a chance for Celtic to be brave.
Putting their best foot forward and putting the foot to the accelerator and letting the attacking talent shine in their most terrific fashion. Seventh heaven it was for the Hoops on Sunday, and the echoes of May's agonising title decider no doubt was dispersed with a resounding victory where Celtic looked akin to the team we all know can perform to their best.
The goals across the board were all excellent, Benjamin Nygren, Callum Osmond, Camilo Duran, Mika Baur and of course Kieran Tierney were all superb and made light work of the Jambos.
Despite the free-flowing never boring always scoring Glasgow Celtic, I might err on the side of caution. I have always maintained that I believe Celtic are far the stronger outfit in Scotland and realistically last season should never be a recurring feat.
But the worry I have is the concession of so many shots could become untenable in the long term, especially against better opposition.
Twenty shots Hearts had on Sunday, and without really worrying too much about the emphasis of those strikes, a better team could cause problems and we have already seen that with LASK, Benfica, Ferencvaros and Rangers.
The challenge has been the ability to beat the so-called 'better sides' but hopefully now Celtic have found their starting XI and they can build upon these results heading into the next few weeks.
It does not get any easier with a home tie with Celta Vigo before a trip to Easter Road, but if Hearts were no real problem then we can hope that the Hoops will get through these ties without much worry.
