James Forrest heads to the Bernabeu with a bagful of Champions League memories to take on the plane.
But he believes Wednesday's run-out against Real Madrid is just a stop-off rather than the final destination for Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic and himself in this competition. At the age of 31, he’s seen and done plenty since first experiencing the qualifiers in Braga in 2010.
Two years later, he was part of the club’s first-ever away win in the group stage in Moscow when Spartak were sunk and ended up tackling Juventus in the last 16. Forrest scored the winner to get Celtic past Shakhter Karagandy and into the groups the next term and, when he got there, his penalty opener against Ajax helped Neil Lennon ’s team secure a 2-1 success. That result, in 2013, remains the last Champions League group stage win achieved on home soil.
