Celtic’s Champions League campaign hit a major stumbling block during the club’s trip to the Wanda Metropolitano to face Diego Simeone’s Atlético Madrid, where Brendan Rodgers’ Scottish champions were steam-rollered in Spain.
Ten-men Celtic were on the end of a six-goal annihilation in Madrid, which acted as another wake-up call, for the fans at least.
Are the board similarly concerned? Or are they still singing from the same hymn-sheet as the then Chairman, Ian Bankier, who had this to say about the club’s European aspirations at the 2021 AGM:
“If we talk about Europe, it’s a much different environment to what it was 20 years ago. We all know that, you know that. You go into the Champions League and you get absolutely pasted by the likes of Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona. Celtic Football Club is not the Qatar Government. There’s a whole set of different players out there with completely different pockets.”
The latest trouncing has left Celtic rooted to the bottom of Group E and winless after four games, picking up a solitary point in the home fixture against Atlético Madrid. This fixture provided supporters with some short-lived security and encouragement that Celtic at the top of their game could live with some of the best Europe has to offer.
The biggest problem is, whenever Celtic line up in Europe the same mistakes seem to crop up. Whether that be massive missed opportunities at one end or a calamitous defensive error at the back, the team always seems to lack the mentality required to see these games through.
This has been evidenced by the loss away in Rotterdam against Feyenoord as well as during the home loss against Lazio, as both inexperience and a lack of sharpness has plagued the team. Both games have resulted in Celtic coming out of those two games with nothing, whilst the performances may have warranted a bit more.
But with two games remaining, qualification is still a possibility, albeit an extremely unlikely one.
The Miracle Scenario
The loss in Madrid didn’t do any favours for Celtic’s goal difference, which took a monumental hit following the 6-0 defeat.
If Celtic are to qualify for the knockout rounds, they would have to win the two remaining fixtures in the group which are a trip to Rome to face Lazio and then the visit of Feyenoord to Celtic Park. Alongside winning those two games, Rodgers’ side would also need a nine-goal swing in goal difference as well as a Lazio defeat in Madrid on the final matchday.
If Celtic are to see European football after Christmas in the Europa League, they would still need to win the remaining two fixtures in the group whilst also relying on Feyenoord to lose at home to Atlético Madrid, a team that they ran close at the Wanda Metropolitano on matchday 2.
The team would have to move heaven and earth to secure European football after Christmas, and whilst nothing is impossible, it is incredibly unlikely.
The Realistic Scenario
The first step towards progress in the Champions League may just be getting over that mental block of getting the first win on the board.
Celtic haven’t won in the Champions League since 2017 when they hammered Anderlecht 3-0 away from home, and it has been a long, hard few years holding out for the Hoops to finally end up in the win column again.
Whilst the trip to Rome may prove to be too tough, if Celtic Park is rocking and the players are performing at the peak of their powers, then they could really take the game to Feyenoord on matchday 6 and secure their first win in the Champions League in six years.
With last season’s group campaign garnering just two points, a win from our final two matches in the current campaign would at least show some progress, however minor.
JAMES MCKENZIE // Follow James HERE
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