Jiri Jarosik is not the first to be confounded by the wildly contrasting nature of Celtic's home and away form. The Czech midfielder made his first appearance for six months in the home leg against AC Milan at Parkhead in October, which Celtic won 2-1.

In Wednesday's meeting with the Rossoneri at the San Siro, he was one of his side's better players but ultimately ended up on the losing side after Filippo Inzaghi's strike proved insurmountable.

Jarosik jokingly admitted that Celtic, who reached the last 16 courtsy of Benfica beating Shakhtar Donetsk, could make even further progress in the tournament if only they could play all their games at home. "No-one is going to want to come to Celtic Park so maybe if we have two home games we can qualify," he smiled.

Celtic were disconsolate after going down in Milan, despite their overall progression, and Jarosik admitted it was a bittersweet experience. "There are only one or two positives because this was not a good game for me or the team. We lost the match and we didn't play well. The big positive is that it is great progress for the team to reach the second stage again. For a long time, Celtic didn't play Champions League football so it shows great progress that we've done it twice in a row."

The Czech midfielder was straining at the leash to leave the club in the last transfer window but has regained his place in the team and now has an incentive to remain beyond January, with the last-16 ties starting the following month. "It's important for me and the club because the last-16 game is in February. I don't why we're so much better at home but we have to start looking to play as well away as we do at home if we are going to make progress."

Jarosik has amassed plentiful experience on the European stage, but admitted his time with Celtic have been unique. "Every team I played with in the Champions League - CSKA Moscow, Chelsea and Sparta Prague - was different but Celtic are so good at home which is a big difference from the clubs I was with before."