CELTIC'S MEETING with Barcelona left Gordon Strachan with a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. The Celtic manager has been afflicted by a vomiting bug in the last few days, and watching re-runs of Wednesday's first leg 3-2 defeat on his day off did not entirely aid his recuperation. The Parkhead club were still in the Champions League the last time anyone looked, but it is difficult to avoid lapsing into the past tense when discussing their aspirations in the 2008 competition.

If that is the disclaimer out of the way, the question is how much anyone could have done about it. Barcelona were in inspired form and have players who belong on a higher plane than Celtic's, but Strachan was in no mood for a whitewash of his players failings on the night. He felt individually and collectively it had been a bad night for too many members of his squad, and that his side's inability to retain the ball had cost them. Neither had he revised his opinion that he wouldn't be betting his house on Celtic going to the Camp Nou and winning by two goals. I still wouldn't, Strachan said.

But what we have got to do is make a tie of it. Score the first goal and make a tie of it. We might be leaving ourselves a bit open but that is what we have got to try and do.

Celtic certainly did that at Parkhead, but the disparity of resources was nowhere clearer than on Celtic's right, and Barcelona's left, flank. That was where the Catalan giants could call upon Ronaldinho in the first half, and Samuel Eto'o in the second, while Strachan had to make do with Paul Caddis, who had started just one previous senior match, and then Mark Wilson. The latter had been out of action for so long that he had to go home on the morning of the game just to get his boots.

Someone asked me the question would we have Mark back and I said no chance', Strachan said. But I saw him sprinting on the morning of the game and asked him if he could do it. Yes, no problem', he said, so he went away home and got his gear.

Caddis was terrific at Kilmarnock but it was a different ball game against Barcelona, Strachan added. We have got every confidence that he is going to be a good player and there isn't a problem. I think it is unfair to just talk about Caddis, lets talk about the rest because I think the rest will think they could have done better. You have to accept that you come up against better teams, but there is a standard you would always like to achieve. I still think when you go back to the house and watch it, if retention of the ball had been better that would have helped us. It would have given us more of a breather. If you get that then you are not so tired when you get the ball back.

Personally, Strachan admits to being caught on the hop somewhat by the number of short passes between centre halves Rafael Marquez and Gabriel Milito and deep-lying midfielder Yaya Toure. Regardless of the magic of Lionel Messi, it was that which was the start of most of Barcelona's moves.

There are one or two things we tried to do, but sometimes their ability on the ball was something unusual that we have not had to put up with, Strachan said. Where you have a standard way of defending certain things, they were producing things that we had never seen from centre halves and deep midfield players.

Caddis was not the only man thrust into the Champions League limelight. This was also a first involvement in the competition for Georgios Samaras, and as good a way as any to celebrate his birthday the next day. After a number of eye-catching cameos, Samaras should also make his first league start this afternoon at St Mirren, with Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink ruled out with a hamstring strain.

The experience and the passion of a Champions League night here was just unbelievable, Samaras said. I was standing there at half-time and I watched the supporters singing You'll Never Walk Alone' and that was the moment for me that I will never forget. I don't know if I will feel this again in any other game. I had my birthday on Thursday and this was the best present I could have hoped for.

Both of Celtic's goals came from cross balls, and there was enough movement from their strikers in midweek for Samaras to feel scoring in the Camp Nou is possible. We had been saying it all week that we needed to get the ball wide and when it was wide, put it in, he added. We knew it would cause them problems and we got two goals out of it. So we know how to attack them it's containing them that is the hard bit. But we'll have to be braver.

We've got to want the ball and give people options. They're going to have the ball for long periods if we don't.

Samaras is enjoying life in Glasgow and Celtic and Manchester City have reached agreement about a future fee, should the Parkhead club decide to go through with the transfer but the player feels it is too early for me to judge if I want to stay here yet. A decision on his future should be made before the European Championships in the summer, whether he can usurp the place of his striking rival Vennegoor of Hesselink or not.

I don't think that it is necessarily either myself or Jan that will be in the team, Samaras said. I am a different player to Jan and a different player to Scott. I know Jan from Holland very well and I am really glad because from the first day here at Celtic he has really helped me here.

Indeed, perhaps the only thing he hasn't done is warned him of the potential pitfalls of a Celtic striker wearing orange boots.