Celtic now has had a decade long history of “always the bridesmaid, never the bride with the Champions League”. We consistently make it through the Scottish Premier League to qualify for either the qualifying rounds or the Group stages of Champions League, where we have struggled to get wins over the past decade or so.
Clearly Celtic is by far the best Scottish team – during the past twelve seasons the Hoops have been Scottish Champions eleven times – but at Champions League level it’s now been a decade since Celtic won a home match in European football’s elite club tournament.
What’s causing these consistent failings with Celtic often faltering at the finish line of matches and failing to hold onto a lead? Can these flaws be addressed on the training ground or in the transfer market, or is it all just down to bad luck?
Below we explore why Celtic always seem to just enter the Champions League without much joy, a situation that wasn’t the case when Martin O’Neill and especially Gordon Strachan were in charge with Neil Lennon, who masterminded a victory over a Barcelona side at their peak with an injury hit Celtic squad back in November 2012.
Where is Celtic now?
Celtic has started the new Scottish Premier League season by defending their position as champions, mainly against their biggest rival, theRangers. Ten games in and Celtic are five points ahead of their city rivals havingwon eight and drawn two matches in a fixture list that has seen Brendan Rodgers’ side visit, Ibrox, Pittodrie, Livingston, Fir Park, Tynecastle and Easter Road.
During the 2022-2023 season, manager Ange Postecoglou (now at Tottenham) helped the team cruise smoothly to the title four points ahead of Rangers and with 92 goals scored in 38 matches, but the gap was only narrowed after the title was secured.
Notably, their attacking talent included Kyogo Furuhashi, Jota, and Giorgos Giakoumakis, who were all praised for leading Celtic to have the most prolific attack in the Scottish Premiership last season and this time under Brendan Rodgers to goals are coming from mainly from Kyogo and Matt O’Riley.
Is it the competition?
Well, in terms of the Scottish Premiership, there is theRangers, who, as we mentioned, are five points behind Celtic in the table. The rivalry is historic and prolific and most Scottish League title have been claimed by either Celtic or one of theRangers sides (the new Rangers started in he 2012/13 season in the bottom tier of Scottish football after the previous club was liquidated with around £90m in unpaid debts).
The Glasgow Derby matches between Celtic and theRangers therefore are hugely significant in the destination of the title and it was first blow to Celtic at the start of September when Kyogo won the three points for the Hoops with the only goal of the game at Ibrox.
However, Hearts, Hibs and Aberdeen also have to step up and be contenders. In the 1980s Aberdeen won the title three times, Dundee United (currently in the Scottish Championship) won it once and Hearts came within eight minutes of becoming Scottish Champions. These teams need to find a way to mount a challenge if the Scottish Premiership is to become more competitive.
Now that the UEFA Champions League group stages is at the halfway mark, Celtic are going to have to battle in the reverse fixtures against Atletico Madrid and Lazio away from home in November and Feyenoord at Celtic Park in December.
The Hoops have already faced, and lost to, Feyenoord (2-0) and Lazio (2-1), before picking up a point against Atletico Madrid (2-2) last Wednesday night. It would be hard to find any optimism to bet for them on 32 Red football or similar sports betting platform to reach the knock-out rounds but Celtic fans will still be hoping that at least the team can claim third spot in the group to qualify for the Europa League knock-out rounds and ensure European football after Christmas.
This has been Brendan Rodgers’ target for this season’s European campaign and while it seems unlikely at this stage, his players will go into the three remaining matches knowing that they have been competitive in all three games and with some luck could be setting with six points rather than just the one at this stage. So there is still hope.
Are there flaws in their strategy?
There are a few reasons supporters and commentators have mentioned why Celtic appear to be having so much success in domestic football but so many disappointing results in the Champions League.
One is an over-reliance on key players which sees The Hoops lean on a few creative attackers. This leads to a lack of variation and an ability to adapt as needed. They tend to stick to possession-based, high-pressing tactics, but against top quality opponents, they can struggle to maintain the pace for the entire match, thus late goals being conceded and leads lost.. Additionally, their open defending, offensive attacking style often leaves them open to defensive vulnerabilities. They need to learn to commit less players forward and not expose their counterattack.
Is it just bad luck?
That’s hard to argue when, only three days into the Champions League, Celtic are already trailing behind the more forgiving of the competition. The game against Feyenoord ended 2-0 and Lazio 2-1 defeats when it looked like Celtic were 2-1 ahead after a sensational goal from Luis Palma was ruled out for offside.
You make your own luck and manager Brendan Rodgers might be steering the team in the right direction to Scottish Premier League dominance right now, but if he wants to rise in the Champions League, there are gaps in their strategy to be filled. That should be addressed in the transfer market in January and then again in the summer should Celtic look to make their own luck in this competition.
Is it their chance?
All that is to say that you should never say “never”. Celtic might not have had much success with the Champions League in the past decade, but they can give as good as they get as they proved against a very fine Atletico Madrid side. There’s always a chance that even this season Celtic can surprise most of Europe by fighting back in this group to go through to the knock-out stages.
While over the last decade, Celtic have struggled for Champions League success, under Brendan Rodgers there are signs that this is about to change for the better. But to do that Celtic need to remain as strong as ever within Scottish football as they seek to continue their domestic dominance.
Bonucci wanted to stay in Italy and was linked with both Lazio and Fiorentina, but a move never materialised, and he ultimately penned a one-year deal with Union Berlin. He’s seen 504 minutes of action across six games for the club since his arrival on transfer deadline day.