What should have been a celebration of the past for the Celtic faithful only served to offer a depressing glimpse of the future as Bayern Munich triumphed in a low-key friendly at Parkhead.

With the stadium less than half-full, Celtic turned in a half-hearted performance which hardly bodes well for the remainder of, what to date, has been an unremarkable season.

This so-called 'millennium challenge' match was staged to mark the official opening of the Lisbon Lions stand and the members of the 1967 European Cup-winning side were paraded beforehand.

That made the woeful home display which followed all the more painful as the visitors quickly assumed control and rarely looked troubled, despite a late Celtic improvement.

First-half goals from Elber and Thorsten Fink were enough for a routine victory.

Mark Burchill converted a 67th-minute goal, but a full recovery proved beyond the Bhoys.

Bayern put out a near full-strength side, including Liverpool-bound Markus Babbel, while Celtic head coach John Barnes took the opportunity to field an experimental line-up.

Venezuelan triallist Fernando De Ornelas was given a chance to impress but faded after a bright opening, while keeper Stewart Kerr was afforded a rare start.

De Ornelas was unfortunate not to score after nine minutes with a fierce left-foot drive which Bayern keeper Oliver Kahn did well to push to safety one-handed.

But just four minutes later Bayern were ahead when Michael Tarnat's corner was headed in at the far post by an unmarked Elbe.

Mark Viduka twice came close for Celtic, but a looping Burchill header onto the roof of the net after 43 minutes was the closest they came to levelling.

The home team went 2-0 down moments before the break when Elbe set up Fink for a first-time drive which defeated Kerr low to his right.

Celtic made two changes at the break, introducing Johan Mjallby for Jackie McNamara and replacing keeper Kerr with Dmitri Kharine, the injury-hit summer signing from Chelsea.

Viduka cut inside with purpose after 55 minutes before curling a shot wide of the upright, while at the other end Jens Jeremies fired just over the bar for Bayern.

Celtic finally lifted a lacklustre occasion on 67 minutes when Burchill latched on to a pass from substitute Paul Lambert to drill low past Kahn.

The goal transformed the Hoops who launched a late flurry to try and salvage something from the game.

Burchill twice came close to an equaliser, seeing a header clawed away by Kahn at point-blank range from a Stephane Mahe cross, then having a powerful angled drive beaten away by the German keeper.

Bayern missed a chance to put the match beyond doubt when Lambert conceded a soft penalty only for Hasan Salihamidzic to put his effort the wrong side of the post.

But in the end it didn't matter.