FOR me, it was Kenny Dalglish’s delightful chip over the Bruges goalkeeper at Wembley in 1978.

Our whole living room jumped to their feet, Tennent's cans with ‘Lager Lovelies’ Diana, Annabel and Julie were spilled all over the carpet, as we celebrated Liverpool winning courtesy of a genius from just up the road.

That was my first memory of the European Cup, the beginning of a love affair with a tournament which has given football most of its greatest nights.

I remember feeling gutted when Dundee United lost to Roma in the semi-final in 1984. Had they won and beaten Liverpool in the final, it would have been the greatest British sporting achievement of all time.

And my highlight is being directly in line with Zinedine Zidane as he produced the greatest volley of all time to win the famous cup with the big ears at Hampden.

The tournament has changed quite a bit since 1960, and it could be argued with some conviction that UEFA are doing their best to making it a club only for the elite, but when that tune is blasted out and the big ball is shaken, there is nowhere else you’d rather be.

The Champions League, as it has been since 1992, is not perfect but it remains the best football competition on the planet, and that includes the World Cup and European Championship.

It’s why Celtic Park is the only place to be this evening.

In so many ways, the play-off is even more important for a club such as Celtic than the actual group stage. Why? Well, with the best will in the world, 1967 is not going to be repeated in 2018 and therefore just being there is a triumph for that football club.

But if Brendan Rodgers’s side fail to get past Astana of Kazakhstan then it will be seen as a failure, if not a disaster. This is as big as it gets for the Celtic manager.

Win this tie over the two legs and he earns his club the best part of £40m and in all honesty who could dream of stopping ten in a row against such a powerful and rich opponent?

Celtic are likely to be in pot three which would give them a better chance of finishing third which would see them drop into the knock-out stage of the Europa League after Christmas; a competition they could do well in.

Indeed, were Astana to prevail over the next seven days, Celtic’s consolation would be the Europa League where they would be one of the top seeds. It would still be European football and, anyway, the Scottish champions cannot be snobbish if they found themselves in the second tier competition.

This means there will be a Scottish interest at least until December which means everyone will get behind Celtic, especially as last year the other 11 Premiership clubs earned £200,000 because Celtic made it to the group stage.

Aye, right.

Trickle down economics rarely if ever work which is why it's completely understandable the likes of Aberdeen, Hibernian, Hearts and especially Rangers won’t be cheering on their rivals on their foreign escapades.

Why should they? Celtic are already on another planet from them and more Champions League cash puts them in a galaxy far, far away. Good for Peter Lawwell. Bloody awful for everyone else.

The co-efficient won’t be high on the list of priorities over at Ibrox. Doing something about their old pals’ dominance sits on top and whatever is at number two on the list is a mile behind that.

However, that’s not something Celtic will concern themselves about too much and were the team to reach the group stages for the second successive season, it would be one hell of an achievement. Plenty of big names fall at this stage. It’s no gimme for even the English and Spanish clubs.

If Celtic do win then there is every chance Paddy Roberts will come back, the stadium will be sold out three times, the fans get to get to some of the great European football cities and any player who shows up against the big boys will command a bigger fee if they catch the eye of a richer club.

And it will give more youngsters their first memory of the European Cup which they will never forget. 

There is lot at stake at Celtic Park this evening. It's a wonder Brendan Rodgers gets any sleep.

And another thing

NEIL McCann seems to have a big job on his rookie hands

His Dundee team did miss a ridiculous amount of chances at Hamilton but with all do respect to the blessed Accies, any team which loses 3-0 at the Superseal Stadium are in bother,

McCann is a smart cookie and has good players at Dens Park but losing at home to Ross County and then to Hamilton is a woeful start.

Dundee are at Aberdeen this weekend, then Hibernian pay them a visit before a trip to Ibrox.

It is not inconceivable that the Tayside Dark Blues will be bottom after the first five matches.

That Sky studio might feel like the place to be if results don't pick up.