IT didn’t quite have the needle of a certain previous meeting between these sides, and thankfully there were no bottles thrown from the crowd either, but Celtic needed a fair bit of bottle to come through this supposed friendly against Rapid Vienna with a hard-fought 3-3 draw.
There was a fair amount of rust on display from the visitors, with Cameron Carter-Vickers and Joe Hart getting into an almighty fankle to hand Vienna their first equaliser, for instance, and the concession of a disappointing last-gasp equaliser.
But goals from Matt O’Riley, David Turnbull and Kyogo were the obvious highlights of what proved a more than useful overall exercise.
There were clearly some Rapid fans in the crowd with long memories, as the rancour from that infamous 1984 clash seemed to still be lingering. The visiting players were roundly booed as they ran to their places, giving the impression this might be a friendly in name only.
This was a clear step up in class for Celtic after the rout of Wiener Viktoria in their opening friendly of pre-season, and the line-up reflected it.
In came a host of regular first-team players, with Carter-Vickers, Callum McGregor, O’Riley, Daizen Maeda, Jota and Giorgos Giakoumakis all on from the start.
The hosts were playing their fourth friendly in a fortnight, and they looked a little sharper early on as Carter-Vickers was caught on the ball and hauled down Bernhard Zimmerman right on the edge of the area, the defender a little fortunate not to concede a penalty.
A driving run from McGregor – who was maskless for the first time since the double cheekbone fracture he sustained at Alloa in January - got the visitors on the front foot though, as Reo Hatate then found Jota to bring the first save of the game from Niklas Hedl.
They were ahead moments later. Jota retrieved a deep Maeda cross and found O’Riley unchallenged on the edge of the area, and the midfielder produced a beautifully placed finish into the bottom corner from 20 yards.
Hart was called into action for the first time as he fielded a curling effort from Guido Burgstaller, and he produced an even better stop moments later as he got down brilliantly to stop Nicolas Khun’s point-blank header.
It was getting a bit tasty given the nature of the occasion, and Celtic showed they wouldn’t be daunted by the physical battle as McGregor and then O’Riley clattered into challenges in the middle of the park.
Still, Rapid had gained the upper hand in the game, with Bernabei looking uncomfortable at left-back and the hosts pinning Celtic into their area.
When the equaliser came though, Celtic only had themselves to blame.
An overhit backpass from Carter-Vickers sent Hart scrambling across his goal. The keeper was then casual as he allowed Ante Bajic to slide in and nick the ball back across the empty goal for Zimmerman to tap home. A sign of rust, perhaps, but still a poor goal to lose at any time.
It had been a great test for Celtic at this stage of their preparations in the opening 45 minutes, but it would be an almost entirely different team that Ange Postecoglou sent out after the interval.
Osaze Urhoghide was the only survivor at right-back, and only because there wasn’t a viable replacement with Josip Juranovic and Anthony Ralston both nursing knocks. Scott Bain, Chris Jullien, Bosun Lawal, Greg Taylor, James McCarthy, Yosuke Ideguchi, David Turnbull, Liel Abada, James Forrest and Kyogo all entered the fray.
The new Bhoys started well, and they moved ahead as a lovely ball over the top from Jullien sent Kyogo in down the right, with the striker crossing first time for Turnbull to prod home.
The hosts then made 10 changes of their own, and they were soon level as Urhoghide was caught sleeping as a cross drifted over his head, allowing Marco Grull to head at goal. Bain made a decent save, but Rene Klriwak was there to nod home the follow up.
Celtic remained undeterred, and this time Turnbull turned provider for Kyogo to move their side ahead once more, the midfielder winning the ball high up the pitch and squaring for his striker to turn and produce a composed low finish into the opposite corner.
Bain made a great high save and Christopher Dibon hit the bar for the hosts when he should have scored, before Jullien and Lawal got in an almighty fankle and were let off the hook as Grull fluffed his finish.
Celtic couldn’t hold out though, and Emanuel Aiwu nodded home from a corner with the last touch of the game to level the score.
