But the visit of struggling Suduva offered the opportunity for Celtic to put that and some unconvincing performances in the Scottish Premier League behind them.
Bulgarian Cervenkov led the side who are sponsored by Romanov's bank to a 1-0 Super Cup victory over Suduva, who sit fourth in the league and won the national cup.
What O'Neill would probably regard as close to his first choice laid siege on the Suduva goal from the start as Sutton, Neil Lennon, Larsson and Petrov forced saves from Gytis Padihanskas.