O'Neill: No Champs League (LaurenceGriffiths/Allsport)

And with defeat will come all kinds of soul-searching for manager Martin O'Neill, with FC Basle undoubtedly worthy of their place among the elite over two torrid matches.

Christian Gross turned impending disaster into triumph and his mood cannot be more contrasting than with the Irishman whose Parkhead honeymoon - all 25 months of it - ended unceremoniously here.

O'Neill has taken Celtic back from the brink of Inverness Caledonian Thistle embarrassment to domestic dominance. Last season, he even brought back European credibility.

But joining Real, Bayern, Manchester United and Juventus again has proved a step too far. Five successive away defeats in Europe has come at a high cost and the last four have not featured a Celtic goal on foreign soil.

That is a rubicon which must be crossed if a new target of UEFA Cup involvement beyond Christmas is to be achieved this year.

The wider implications, of course, are financial and it now remains to be seen if Celtic will spend again as the first transfer window closes. And let's not forget the manager's contractual status, which will be the hot topic in Scottish football this autumn.

O'Neill's line-up demonstrated how pre-match blarney can be precisely that, with no place for Didier Agathe or Steve Guppy, both of whom had been key themes the previous day.

Instead, the Irishman opted for Parkhead goalscoring hero Momo Sylla on the right and Ulrik Laursen, the defender signed from Hibernian, on the left.

It was a daunting but challenging night for the big Dane who, a week earlier, had sat with his feet up at Hampden watching his country dismantle Paul Lambert and teammates.

Laursen's last European exposure had been with Hibs last autumn, when he conceded a late penalty in Athens in defeat to AEK.

He was on the left of what was effectively a back four as O'Neill sought to nullify Basle's pacy threat, but the opening minutes were full of alarming signals.

Gross and his players had spoken almost feverishly before the match of their desire to score an early goal and, with Hakan Yakin difficult to pin down behind the strikers, Celtic toiled.

Skipper Lambert denied Ivan Ergic a fourth-minute opener with a fine, sliding block at the expense of a corner but the traffic-flow towards Robert Douglas had been established.

When Giminez picked up possession very deep, his blindside run wasn't covered as Hakan Yakin, so elusive, played a brilliant through ball for the Argentinian to score.

Neil Lennon and Lambert had been with Yakin but were unable to prevent the killer pass as the Celtic midfield was sliced apart.

The Swiss immediately created another chance, with Julio Hernan Rossi capitalising on a dreadful Bobo Balde error, but his angled shot was off target with team-mates closing in.

Sylla was being asked to fill the right of midfield and support the two strikers and when he was caught by a burst from left-back Gregory Duruz, he found himself yellow-carded by Anders Frisk.

Larsson had a header stopped by Pascal Zuberbuhler but, before the match was even a quarter complete, Basle had bagged the two goals they needed.

Again, the Celtic right flank was open to invasion and when the Swiss forced a corner they were to take full advantage via Murat Yakin's towering header.

O'Neill reacted to the midfield problem by bringing Stilian Petrov over to the right inside 25 minutes, a clear admission of where Basle were threatening.

Balde gave them a problem three times with air raids the best hope of a Celtic counter but, before the first half ended, Lambert, Johan Mjallby and Rossi were walking wounded.

Laursen and Lambert were withdrawn and Celtic were far more of a threat through wing-backs Didier Agathe and Steve Guppy.