YOU Jota have faith sometimes.

Faith in the process.

Faith in Ange.

The Celtic fans have it in abundance.

Davie Provan clearly didn't.

"I've no problem with Celtic from midfield forward, they'll give the best of themselves, they're very creative and they have good pace, but if you open up against a better side - and Leverkusen are clearly a better side - then I think you deserve anything you get.

"It just astonishes me that he's already declared his hand and said we're going to go there and have a go.

"I don't get him at times.

"I know that he's almost a cult figure among Celtic fans, Ange Postecoglou, because he was dealt such a poor hand of cards when he came in.

"I think compared to other managers he's getting an easy ride. That could change very quickly.

"That's the nature of things in this city.

"Yes, Celtic are on a good run domestically, but I'm still not convinced about them at the back."

Those were the words of former Celtic winger Davie Provan.

Not that Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou was going to pay attention or heed them ahead of a European tie of such magnitude.

Could Celtic get the measure of Bayer Leverkusen?

Could they win on German soil in a European tie for the first time ever?

Could the Hoops keep their Europa League knockout stage qualification hopes alive?

Could the team ram Davie Provan's words back down his throat?

The task facing Celtic was gargantuan.

READ MORE: Detailed Celtic player ratings as Josip Juranovic kisses the crossbar and fearless Joe Hart shows class

The men from Glasgow's East End just happened to be playing in the Bay Arena where incidentally Bayer Leverkusen have rarely come off worst in a Europa League tie.

Nobody of a green and white persuasion least of all Provan needed reminding that the Bundesliga outfit had slammed four past ​Celtic on Matchday Two.

This was a different Celtic animal though - wasn't it Davie?

Confidence was high after Ange's men had secured a place in the first domestic cup final of the season - the League Cup - at Hampden Park on December 19 and a run of eight wins out of nine in all competitions had the Celtic fans dreaming of another slice of Euro history.

Although Celtic's record in Germany was nothing to write home about - no wins, 3 draws, 9 losses.

Was this the night that Celtic finally won away in Germany of all places?

Ange made just one change from the side that triumphed in Saturday's semi-final at the national stadium against St Johnstone as goalscoring hero James Forrest came in for Israeli wide man Liel Abada.

It took the home side just 15 minutes to grab the initiative in this one when Robert Andrich got the jump on both the tracking Anthony Ralston and Stephen Welsh at a corner kick and headed home the opener with no Celtic player guarding the post.

Sadly, it was all too easy for Leverkusen.

Celtic weathered the storm and without making inroads in an attacking sense until the 33rd minute when Kyogo thought he'd sprung the offside trap when he broke in behind the red and black defence and dragged an effort across the face of goal but the flag went up in any case.

The Japanese bhoy them came off second best on 40 minutes when Bayer Leverkusen Lukas Hradecky completely wiped him out in the box and it looked like a clear penalty all day long.

Celtic Way:

The Greek referee consulted VAR and awarded the spot kick.

Josip Juranovic then showed that he had cojones of steel.

The Croatian defender judged his penalty to perfection as his impudent 'Panenka' style kick kissed the underside of the bar and landed in the net to make it 1-1 as he made it three out of three from 12 yards.

Moussa Diaby then cracked a beauty off the upright and Florian Wirtz flicked the rebound off the other post as Celtic breathed a sigh of relief moments before the break as the woodwork twice came to the visitors rescue.

A matter of inches saw Ange's men lucky to stay on level terms at the interval.

Joe Hart then produced the save of the season on 53 minutes when he saved with his feet from Diaby and Adli seemed to have a tap-in but somehow miraculously he scooped the ball away from the on-rushing striker.

It was an incredible save from the former Manchester City and England shot-stopper.

The players seemed to take inspiration from Hart's double save.

READ MORE: Celtic duo Jota and Kyogo's elite numbers make European trophy target feel realistic

Incredibly Celtic took the lead on 57 minutes when a glorious counter-attack started by Hart and involving Forrest, Nir Bitton and Kyogo which saw Jota drill home a first time effort to put Celtic 2-1 ahead.

It really was astonishing stuff from Ange's men and it was an absolutely superb strike from the Portuguese superstar who made it a magnificent seven goals for Celtic since joining the club.

Hart then continued to defy Leverkusen and belief with a display that was bordering on heroic.

However, he was finally beaten by Andrich's low strike on 82 minutes which went through his legs to make it 2-2 on the night and Diaby then fired home to make it 3-2 to Bayer Leverkusen on 87 minutes as Celtic's hearts were broken.

Celtic will never come closer to shattering their German European away match hoodoo but my goodness they gave it a right good go. As Ange said they would.

To be fair to Davie Provan, his concerns over defensive frailties proved prescient. The record now stands at no wins, 3 draws and 10 losses.

This one was a bitter pill to swallow and when all is said and done the last 32 of the Europa Conference league awaits.

Yet for long spells in this contest, Celtic and Ange will know that they went toe-to-toe with a real European heavyweight.

Ironically enough Celtic released their much-awaited Festive advert this week the premise of which saw the whole squad head round to Ange's house for Christmas dinner.

In the words of the famous Wham! song that is doing the rounds among the Celtic faithful right now: "Last Christmas, I gave you my heart But the very next day, you gave it away This year, to save me from tears I'll give it to Posetcoglou."

Ange is certainly proving himself to be "someone special" in the eyes of the Celtic fans.

Take it away, George Michael.

Or is it Jota in disguise?