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Paddy Power has seen their latest Money-Back Special pay out as Henrik Larsson broke the hearts of thousands of Celtic fans and punters when he sealed victory for Barcelona in Tuesday night's Champions League clash. The Irish bookies had promised to refund all losing stakes if Larsson scored the last goal and duly returned the bets to ease the pain of the Celtic faithful the morning after the night before. Paddy Power, communications director for the bookie, said: "It was an emotional night for many a Celtic fan and hopefully we can help ease the heartbreak today. "Firstly if the sight of seeing Larsson playing in a different shirt to the famous green and white hoops wasn't heart-breaking enough, his goal that sealed the game was a double kick in the stomach. "The 9/4 draw was a big result on our books and Larsson's goal killed off any chance of a late equaliser for Celtic. "Perhaps our Money-Back will get them smiling again today and Celtic punters who were already on a loser at 2-1 down might just be more inclined to forgive Alan Thompson for his calamitous header that led to the third Barca goal." Paddy Power will offer another Money-Back Special for Monday's showdown between Liverpool and Manchester United.

Lennon lets rip at lack of new recruits

Neil Lennon has pointed the finger of blame at the Parkhead money men for Celtic's failure to live with Barcelona in the Champions League. The tough-talking midfielder believes the Hoops' new signings are not enough for them to compete with the cream of Europe and make the next step into the knock-out stages. Since Celtic sent the Catalan giants spinning out of the Uefa Cup six months ago Frank Rijkaard has spent millions on new talent - including Henrik Larsson from Parkhead - while Martin O'Neill has only signed Henri Camara on loan and Juninho on a free. The Northern Irishman opened up after Tuesday's 3-1 defeat by admitting the board's reluctance for the manager to splash the cash was all very evident. When told the signings made are not enough to compete, Lennon replied: "That's right and I think you saw that the other night. "I don't think there will be many teams who can compete with them. If they have everyone fit then they will definitely be there or thereabouts in the Champions League. "We could've done with spending a bit of money to improve the team. We can't complain though. "We just have to get on with it and for the past four years it's been a magnificent effort by all the players."

O'Neill fearful over Euro hopes

Martin O'Neill fears Celtic's Champions League hopes could be over by the time they return home to face Shakhtar Donetsk on 2 November. The Scottish champions crashed to a 3-1 defeat at home to Barcelona on Tuesday night to leave them joint-bottom of Group F after only one game. It is not unusual for Celtic to start their group campaign with defeat as they experienced it against Bayern Munich last season and against Juventus two seasons before that. But the challenge this time is even more daunting as they must travel to face 2003 Champions League winners AC Milan in the San Siro on 29 September.

No shame in losing record to 'exceptional' side - O'Neill

O'Neill showed the magnitude of Celtic's task now when he half-joked: "We have taken on one of the best sides in European football and got beaten so all we have to do is go and win in Milan. AC Milan won in the Ukraine so this group is even tougher now." After that they face a trip into the unknown when they face the so-called weakest side in the group before the sides meet again in Glasgow at the start of November. But O'Neill fears that by the time they face Donetsk at home they could be fighting it out for little more than third place in the Group F and a place in the Uefa Cup. He said: "It's three points gone and I would have been happy had we got something out of the game. "But we have a fair idea about the number of points needed to try and get through at this minute. "That's three points gone for a start but we have played in groups before and started off both times and lost opening fixtures.

"On this occasion we have been beaten and our next two games are away from home and I know we have got to have points on the board before coming back here." But O'Neill feels that if they can stay in the hunt and avoid defeats in Italy and Eastern Europe then the atmosphere at Parkhead could spur them to the knock-out stages. "When the crowd is up like that it is a great evening no doubt about it," he said. "I know I have never experienced anything like this in Europe and the team responds." MARTIN O'Neill looked ahead to the daunting prospect of having to take points from away fixtures if Celtic are to qualify from Group F of the Champions League, after last night's 3-1 defeat against Barcelona. The result saw Celtic beaten at home in Europe for the first time since August, 2001, when Ajax's 1-0 victory in a Champions League qualifier was not enough to prevent Celtic - 3-1 winners of the first leg in Amsterdam - from progressing to the group stage. The Irishman revealed that, during a second-half resurgence in which David Marshall saved a penalty from Ronaldinho and substitute Chris Sutton scored the equaliser, he began to harbour hopes that his team's spirit would carry them to another extraordinary victory.

But he offered a realistic view of Celtic's chances now of surviving in a group that also includes Milan, the Italians having opened their campaign with an away victory over Shakhtar Donetsk. "Well, you always have a fair idea of the number of points you might need to take you through," said O' Neill, "and that's three of them gone in one game. "Obviously, all we have to do now is go to Milan in a fortnight and win - you stop laughing. Of course, it's no shame to lose our good record at home to a team of Barcelona's quality, but, as things turned in the second half, I really believed we could preserve that record. "I thought the David Marshall penalty save was fantastic and kept us in the game when it could have gone away from us. It could have been over at half-time. "At that stage it galvanised us again and the crowd got behind us and Sutton scored a great goal and we were back in it. "We showed great heart to come back and the whole place was alive when we got the equaliser and I thought we would go on to win the game at that stage. "I also think that, for that spell when Chris equalised and Alan Thompson has had one just past the post, Barcelona would also have settled for a draw . "They managed to regain some of the composure we took away from them just before they scored their second goal and, of course, their third was a bit of a gift. They kept the ball and scored goals which weren't the best from our view point. "They will have designs on winning the competition, but from our viewpoint, they were three poor goals to lose. But that's not to say they didn't create other chances. They are an exceptional side."