Although the Scottish Premiership is on course to become a little bit more competitive this year, the fact remains that the Hoops have won the last 7 Scottish domestic league titles and the likelihood is that Celtic will go through the gears and move away from the pack of teams that have gathered at the top end of the league this season.
Whilst this domestic success is certainly nothing to be sniffed at, Celtic fans undoubtedly want to see more from their side in Europe, especially after that brilliant win over RB Leipzig whetted the appetites for more memorable nights. Some supporters reckoned that the win over RB Leipzig was the best since the November 2012 victory over Barcelona in the Champions League at Celtic Park.
Since becoming the first British club to lift the European Cup back in the 1966/67 season and the next five or six years when Celtic reached another Final and numerous semi-finals of the European Cup, there has been way too few big European successes to shout about.
Martin O’Neill realised that when we took over at Paradise and his team got all the way to the UEFA Cup Final in Seville in 2003 only to lose out in extra-time to Porto. And Gordon Strachan achieved some notable victories in the Champions League as Celtic manager with the likes of AC Milan and Manchester United losing at Celtic Park.
But for these highs there have also been plenty of lows on the European front for Celtic with so many away games producing disappointing results and frustrating performances in equal measures. So, with this being said, can Celtic conquer Europe again and, if so, how? Is for instance, a decent run in the Europa League a possibility if Celtic can secure the second qualifying spot over the next few weeks?
As seems to be the case in football at the moment, finances (or lack of) are the first thing on the agenda to be discussed. On the one hand, you could argue that the Celts simply don’t have the financial clout to compete with the top teams in Europe.
With the ever-widening gap between the Scottish Premiership and other top European Leagues in terms of sponsorship deals and TV rights, this is undoubtedly the biggest hurdle facing the Bhoys and European success. Conversely, there are a handful of teams who have remained competitive in Europe despite limited resources – Monaco, Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and to an extent, Shakhtar Donetsk have all done reasonably well without splashing to much cash.
The Champions League is increasingly becoming a rich clubs competition for a selected few clubs from the 5 big leagues in Europe so for former winners like the after mentioned Porto (they won it the year after beating Celtic in Seville), Ajax and Celtic, the Europa League seems a more realistic proposition these days for any European ambitions.
In order to have any chance of future success in Europe, sustainable growth as a club is key. For this to work, Celtic need to carry on developing more talent that could potentially yield the best returns in future – Moussa Dembele, Victor Wanyama and Virgil Van Dijk are the three most recent examples of players whose sales have produced huge profits for the club.
In Kieran Tierney, Callum McGregor, James Forrest and others Celtic have a wealth of talent on the books and this continuous cycle of steady progress and growth is needed to bolster the squad to the required European standard. Despite impressively beating RB Leipzig last time out, Celtic are around 100/1 to lift the Europa League this year with most football betting outlets and this is a realistic reminder of just how far off the pace the Hoops are at the moment.
As a club, Monaco have found that out that having their talent poached by other clubs (albeit legally) can be frustrating but this is ultimately the price you pay by developing younger talent and this is the model they have built their success on.
Yet you just know that Monaco will be back and with the money they have to reinvest in the squad, it shouldn’t take long before they’re firing on all cylinders again.
Celtic could adopt the same sort of approach in order to taste European success again but this will take time and a lot of patience. One thing is for sure however, Brendan Rodgers is certainly the right man to have at the helm to head up a project of this size and, in Celtic Park, the Bhoys have one of the most intimidating atmospheres waiting for anyone who heads north of the border.
Andy Taylor
