AC Milan 1 Celtic 0:Soccer is a team game and sometimes it takes more than one of them to achieve success. Celtic are in the last 16 of the Champions League because of a combination of the nine points they already had before touching down in Milan and the victory for Benfica at Shakhtar Donetsk.
The holders Milan take top place and did enough here to show both their integrity and their quality. They had the pride, particularly in the second half, to score a winner through "Pippo" Inzaghi and Kaka ought to have added a further goal when clean through in stoppage-time.
Milan had already claimed their slot in the knockout phase, but they could have had it in mind to kill off Celtic early and remove the risk of a defeat that would see the visitors top the group.
Ancelotti might have had that in mind when he included his most creative players. There was no night off for Andrea Pirlo, Kaka or Clarence Seedorf. Celtic had expected as much and were sent out in a watchful 4-1-4-1 formation.
Before half-time, the key incident for the visiting support had taken place at the other end of Europe. They roared, with six minutes gone, as word came through that Shakhtar Donetsk were losing to Benfica.
Anything short of a win for the Ukrainian club would sweep Celtic into the next round regardless of the result here. This match had its mind somewhere else and the outlook of the Milan players was ambivalent.
While they did go on the attack, the outcome of those moves was not a matter of urgency. When Stephen McManus was judged to have fouled Inzaghi, despite the fact that the Italian seemed to have been tugging the Scot's shirt, Milan had a free-kick in prime position, a yard outside the area with promising shooting opportunities for a specialist.
Milan have such a person in Pirlo, but he took part in a manoeuvre that rolled the ball to Seedorf, who kicked a poor effort into the wall. If Ancelotti is experimenting that line of inquiry may now be abandoned. There was little else for him, or the other occupants of the ground, to learn.
The Celtic goalkeeper Artur Boruc was seldom involved in the first 45 minutes. Those who had travelled from Glasgow do not normally relish insipid football, but blandness was a blessing on this night. At that stage, they would have been agitated to learn that Shakhtar had clawed back a goal and were just 2-1 behind Benfica.
Back at San Siro, no such tumult was conceivable. Cynical minds, indeed, would have turned to thoughts of match-fixing, but Milan's level of interest did vary and they showed more brightness when the game resumed. A Pirlo set-piece went narrowly wide and Inzaghi nearly got himself into a shooting position.
A period of genuine competitiveness entailed a caution for Scott Brown, following a foul on Seedorf, that will bring suspension for the Celtic midfielder.
In one of his side's few incisive moves a long pass from McManus sent him clear on the right, but the attempt at finish was hapless.
Milan were busy enough to prevent Celtic from achieving poise or enjoying any sense of comfort. When they lost 1-0 to Benfica in Lisbon because of an 86th-minute goal Strachan diagnosed a tiredness born of an inability to hold possession and grant themselves spells in which they could recover. That failing can be difficult if not impossible to cure.
Republic of Ireland international Aiden McGeady, who has been in outstanding form of late, was as wasteful as anyone in the Celtic ranks.
There was always a possibility that Milan's superior technique would express itself in a goal, as it did in the 70th minute. Kaka worked a one-two with the 37-year-old Cafu and struck the perfect cross that Inzaghi converted from close range.
Earlier in the half, the scorer had headed straight into the arms of Boruc and perhaps such inept finishing could not have gone on handicapping so prolific a forward. Celtic lacked the attackers to put Milan under strain. Ancelotti's team, by then, no longer looked as if this assignment made them sullen.
Strachan reacted as best he could by making substitutions, but the fate of Celtic lay in Donetsk.
AC MILAN: Kalac, Cafu, Bonera, Simic (Kaladze 29), Favalli, Gattuso, Pirlo (Brocchi 74), Ambrosini, Kaka, Seedorf (Gourcuff 69), Inzaghi. Subs not used: Fiori, Gilardino, Oddo, Aubameyang.
CELTIC: Boruc, Caldwell, Pressley, McManus, O'Dea, Jarosik (Zurawski 78), Donati (Sno 71), Scott Brown, Hartley, McGeady, McDonald (Vennegoor of Hesselink 65). Subs not used: Mark Brown, Balde, Killen, Caddis. Booked: Scott Brown.
Referee: T Henning (Norway).