UEFA Cup fourth round, first leg:  Celtic - 1 Barcelona - 0 Ten-man Celtic beat a Barcelona side reduced to nine courtesy of Alan Thompson's second-half strike in the first leg of an ill-tempered UEFA Cup fourth round match last night.

On an unruly night Celtic goalkeeper Rab Douglas was sent off along with Thiago Motta for fighting at the interval and the Barcelona forward Javier Saviola received a red card in a match that forgot the compassion that had preceded it.

UEFA had resisted Barcelona's plea that the match be postponed because of the atrocities in Madrid, so respects were paid not merely with a minute's silence but also with the crowd's even more moving rendition of You'll Never Walk Alone as an expression of solidarity.

Afterwards, Celtic manager Martin O'Neill revealed Douglas was incensed by his dismissal, the manager adding he believed the Scotland international was trying to quell the "skirmish" in the tunnel.

"I thought it was a decent game of football played in a good spirit," O'Neill said. "A moment or two before half-time there was a bit of a skirmish on the field.

"I don't know if that was the thing that boiled over, but we were up the tunnel and heard a bit of a skirmish of some description.

"We came back out and Rob Douglas finally got his marching orders. I think he was trying to separate anybody who was involved in it. I don't know whether we have any TV cameras in the tunnel, but Rob Douglas is very, very annoyed.

"It was a perfectly good game and then tempers frayed a little bit. But, in terms of discipline, I thought we did exceptionally well and, in terms of playing on a pitch which has cut up badly in recent weeks, we did exceptionally well.

"We have beaten Barcelona here and it doesn't matter how things go in a fortnight, it has been a wonderful effort here."

With John Hartson ruled out until next season, O'Neill could hardly afford the failure of Chris Sutton to recover from an ankle injury. Celtic's style depends on a target man whose strength is the focal point of attacks.

Here, O'Neill had to select Craig Beattie, a very talented youngster, but not yet ready to dominate opponents. So reduced in numbers is the squad at present that O'Neill did not name his full quota of substitutes.

It was clearly going to be a night for Celtic to scavenge as they sought to extend a record of 73 matches unbeaten at home stretching back to August 2001.

To their credit, they did come to life spasmodically before the interval, with Bobo Balde, the massive centre half, rousing the supporters.

Celtic might have had the lead two minutes before the interval. Beattie tucked the ball in from the right and Stilian Petrov rolled it back into the well-timed run of Alan Thompson. He was clear, but did not make good contact.

Celtic fans could hardly sigh with exasperation, though. Barca, with their three-man attack spread across the pitch, tugged the defence and opened up space.

Saviola played a one-two with Ronaldinho and hacked wide before protesting he had been fouled. There was no such excuse for Ronaldinho as he skewed his effort wide when, set up by Saviola, he looked sure to score.

Celtic dreamed of winning, but were often busy surviving and a challenge awaited them with the red cards for Douglas and Motta.

The goalkeeper's understudy David Marshall saw a Saviola finish fly beyond the post in the 47th minute, but the Argentinian was to be sent off moments later for a wild hack at Thompson.

Celtic took advantage of their numerical advantage in the 59th minute. Henrik Larsson leapt prodigiously to a Petrov cross and headed down for Thompson to finish with a half-volley.

On an overwrought night, Barcelona soon had to replace Michael Reiziger, who was on the verge of being dismissed.

Both sides threatened towards the end, but Celtic - who are now 74 matches unbeaten at home - held firm ahead of the second leg at the Nou Camp on March 25th.

CELTIC: Douglas, Varga, Balde, McNamara, Agathe, Lennon, Petrov, Pearson, Thompson (Sylla 83), Larsson, Beattie (Marshall 45). Subs Not Used: Lambert, Wallace, Smith, Kennedy. Sent Off: Douglas (45). Booked: Varga, Balde. Goals: Thompson 59.

BARCELONA: Valdes, Reiziger (Gerard 64), Puyol, Oleguer, Gabri, Cocu, Xavi, Motta, Ronaldinho (Overmars 88), Luis Garcia (Quaresma 72), Saviola. Subs Not Used: Rustu, Marquez, Iniesta, Oscar Lopez. Sent Off: Motta (45), Saviola (49). Booked: Reiziger.

Referee: W Stark (Germany).