Celtic’s Champions League campaign set to be an exhilarating rollercoaster ride

After Celtic claimed a 2-0 win over Hearts on Sunday at Parkhead, they are the last remaining team in the Cinch Premiership still boasting a flawless record which sees them sitting two points clear of our nearest challengers. Yes, we are only four games into the season and there of course is an awful lot of football still to be played but you would struggle to find a Celtic fan who isn’t feeling extremely positive regarding the way things have gone in the early part of this season.

The excitement levels amongst both the fans and the players will surely rise this Thursday as Celtic find out who they will play in this season’s Champions League group stages. It’s been five years since we last played on the grandest stage in club football under Brendan Rodgers, and to be totally honest, to me it feels even longer.

Not long now… #UCL 🍀⚽️ pic.twitter.com/YybhhIzkW5

— Adam Lynch (@AdamLynch27) August 23, 2022

It’s going to be incredible as fans to witness our club return to where we all feel we belong, dining at the top table mixing it with the biggest names in Europe. I will never bash the Europa League of even the newly created Europa Conference League, they are great competitions in their own right, but nothing replicates the buzz created by hearing Zadok the Priest as Celtic line up against the powerhouses of Europe.

This will be out first chance to see how Ange Postecoglou and his exciting squad measure up against the top teams in European football. I have to say I have noticed some anxiety amongst some fellow fans and I can totally understand where they are coming from. The last time we were in the Champions League group stages wasn’t the most enjoyable experience as fans. We were heavily beaten home and away by Paris St-Germain, lost convincingly in Munich and slipped to defeat in Anderlecht. We did however beat Anderlecht 3-0 in Brussels and pushed Bayern Munich all the way in Glasgow.

The reason some fans are worried is that many thought that Brendan Rodgers made a mistake in trying to play against team like PSG and Bayern Munich in the same style as we play against teams in Scotland. They know Ange Postecoglou is going to do the same, he has said many times before that he will not change his philosophy of how he wants to see his team play.

Many will have watched as an average squad from across the city manage to get to last season’s Europa League final and thought maybe it best if we took a leaf out of their book and be a bit more pragmatic in our style of play. Maybe it would lead to better results but you know what, for me it’s just not the Celtic way.

I know many fellow fans will disagree with me but personally I’m glad Ange Postecoglou thinks this way. Under Ange we will be going into the Champions League all guns blazing, refusing to change our style. We will meet the challenge head on and go toe to toe with whoever gets in our way.

Will we win the Champions League? It’s highly unlikely. Will we even qualify for the last 16? It’s dependant on how favourable the draw is but again it will be a tough task. But would I rather watch Celtic go out on their shields than play negatively in the hope of nicking a result here and there? Absolutely.

Being an Ireland fan this dilemma has been around the national side for years now. Ireland got some great results under the likes of Giovanni Trapattoni and Mick McCarthy but the style of football was atrocious to watch. I actually stopped attending matches a few years ago as the trip from Belfast to Dublin and back again to watch football that would make the eyes bleed just wasn’t worth it.

Stephen Kenny has come in and is like Marmite to football fans here. Personally I’m a big fan as he’s introducing young players and is trying to play football the right way. A lot of fans have returned to the Aviva stadium, the results aren’t always great but at least it’s interesting to watch and isn’t football supposed to entertain us? It’s also the only way to change the culture of football throughout Ireland. If we continue to employ tactics most teams left behind a couple of decades ago we will never progress.

Back to Celtic however and just last week The Celtic Star published an article regarding an interesting interview with new Celtic coach Harry Kewell, in which the Australian was talking about his fellow countryman Ange Postecoglou and how he won’t change his philosophy no matter how big a challenge the opposition pose. He said:

“But then again, if you train a certain way, and then you came up against a [bigger]team, and you completely changed your philosophy and ideas, it’s going to throw a lot of people off,” Kewell said. “You only live once, right? So, why not just play the way that you’re comfortable with, and go out there and see it?

“Is it going to be exciting? Oh yeah. It’s going to be interesting, it’s going to be exciting. I love that. And I think I would have loved that if I was playing. I would have been buzzing: ‘Just give me the ball, yeah, I’m ready.’ That’s what the players love. They will go out there with no fear. I would love to play the best teams because I think his style will be a challenging for anybody – especially at Parkhead.

“It’s a big year for Celtic because the expectations are huge. But he talks about, ‘Let’s just go out there and be the best we can be.’ That’s a great motto for the players to understand and work by.”

In my article from a few days ago after theRangers dropped points at Easter Road against Hibs and I mentioned in it that their style of play may help them grind out results in Europe, but I feel that it leads to them suffering on the domestic front. I’ll go back to what Harry Kewell said about changing your philosophy and ideas. He thinks too much meddling throws players off and I completely see where he is coming from.

theRangers did incredibly well to get so far in Europe last season but they aren’t a good side to watch. They excel in playing a defensive style of football that relies heavily on the counter attack. It works in Europe for them.

They seem to have that style down to a T but the thing is they then find it difficult to change gears when it comes to domestic football and often struggle to break down teams. By sticking to the same philosophy at home and in Europe we will not have that problem. Will we get the odd bloody nose? Probably, but we will learn from it and improve as a team.

I would absolutely love to see us do better in Europe. We have hugely underperformed on that stage in the last decade. For a club like ours getting to the latter stages in the likes of the Europa League should be a minimum. But let’s do it the Celtic way. You saw glimpses of it last season against the likes of Real Betis and Fenencvaros. We have had a year to really gel as a squad since then and should be capable of even more this season.

As Harry Kewell says, whatever the outcome you can guarantee it’s going to be very interesting and exciting. I’m anticipating one hell of a rollercoaster ride. Bring it on.

Conall McGinty