Matt O’Riley is looking forward to having another crack at the Champions League Group stages this season with Celtic after the lessons from last year’s debut campaign where the performances were certainly better than the results in a campaign that saw Celtic finish in bottom spot with just two points from six games.
And the Celtic midfielder, who spoke to the media yesterday, is determined that this time Celtic will not only put on a show but will pick up more points with O’Riley having the confidence to state that Celtic will fear no-one in the draw.
“For me personally, being in Scotland for a year, I’m now in a better place than I was then. Experience can only help whether it is good experience or bad,” O’Riley stated. “Going into the next crack at the Champions League I think you are more prepared mentally because you know the level.
“I just hope all the team really believe we can actually do something this year, because I think it’s possible. It’s football, isn’t it? We have seen things in the past where teams not expected to win things do win them.
“Leicester won the Premier League, and I think we should go into the Champions League believing that we can win every game. Not necessarily expecting to, but we have to give ourselves the best chance of doing well.
“Of course, I understand the argument about budgets from a fans’ perspective and an outside perspective. But I just look at it from a human perspective. I look at a player on the other team and, fair enough, they might be in a Real Madrid kit or a Barcelona kit but they are still a human being like I am.
“And if we play well on the day we can definitely win a football match. We might not be favourites in every game, but it’s still possible. Scottish football gets a bit overlooked and the Champions League is the platform to really show that the teams in this league can play good football and really compete.
“Going into this year I would like to put a marker down and say, ‘OK we are actually here for a reason’. I feel quite lucky to have a mindset where I’ve always dreamed since I was quite young. I’m not afraid to dream or say crazy stuff like I really believe we can beat anybody in it. I don’t just say it — I do mean it.
“It is possible. It’s not like it’s in the stars. We are going to be there in the group, so we have the chance to win the games. We will be really going for it. I just think, ‘Why not?’. I had a chance to go for it, so why not give it my all? That’s what I tried to do.”
On a wish-list for possible opponents in the Group Stages, O’Riley has already ticked one big name of his list from last season’s debut campaign for the U21 Denmark International.
“We had Real Madrid last year, so I’ve ticked that box! There are enough good teams to have some fun regardless. I’d take anyone. I want to try and get through the group, no matter who we get. We have to go out there to win. I don’t think we should look at the teams and be like, ‘These are big dogs’. We should go in thinking that we are in a group of four and let’s try to get through.”
You can’t fault O’Riley for this respectful confidence. There is no doubt that the miserably low points total from the Champions League last season should have been avoided, Celtic should have won both matches against Shakhtar Donetsk and that would have been enough to guarantee European football after Christmas.
That has to be the minimum target this season otherwise it will be regarded as just another failed European campaign. Yet O’Riley is right to dream of even more ambitious achievements in the Champions League. It was not too long ago that Gordon Strachan’s Celtic side was regularly coming through the group stages and taking some big scalps at Celtic Park – which really needs to return to the days of being a fortress where few teams ever get anything when they play us in European competition.
At the very least, Matt O’Riley’s comments point to a positive outlook within the squad and a hunger among the players to succeed on the Champions League stage playing for Celtic.
Check out Matt Corr speaking to the one and only Martin O’Neill on The Celtic Star Podcast…
