Henrik Larsson believes he "stabbed" Celtic fans in the heart by scoring against them during his time at Barcelona after returning to Parkhead in the Champions League.
The Swede signed for Celtic 25 years ago before eventually moving to the Nou Camp after seven sensational years at the Hoops as he left Glasgow east's end as a club legend. However, he came back to haunt his former side in 2004 with Larsson netting for Frank Rijkaard's side in a 3-1 win at Parkhead just months after leaving Celtic for Catalonia. And the legend admits he still has mixed emotions about scoring that night.
Speaking on the anniversary of his move to Celtic, Larsson said: "For seven years at Celtic Park they played the theme song of 'The Magnificent Seven' after every goal I scored. This time it was dead quiet, some spectators even whistled. I would have liked to have sunk into the ground. I owe everything to Celtic. The club paid for my house, made me financially independent and made me the person I am today.
"I loved the Celtic fans and yet that night I stabbed them in the heart with my goal. But at that moment I was a player for FC Barcelona."
And Larsson, in an interview in German magazine 11 Freunde, also revealed his toughest opponent on the pitch came from Celtic's fierce rivals. He said: "It was Craig Moore of Rangers. He yelled at me for 90 minutes, kicked me across the pitch and tried everything to get inside my head.
"But you have to give him one thing, he never complained when he got something back himself. And I got him back really hard a few times!
"All my life people have told me I can't do certain things because I'm small and skinny. No one believed in me because my father was just a sailor from Cape Verde and my mother was a factory worker. I always had to earn respect - in the school playground and on the pitch. I learned that if you don't fight back, you become fair game.
"I experienced things earlier in life I would have gladly done without - racism and insults, but that's part of life. I wasn't playing against a great anger, but for my dream."
READ NEXT
