Celtic in the UEFA Champions League 2024-25

I said last year before the CL I thought we'd be doing well to win a game. Think it will be the same this time round barring some top quality signings, including a GK. I really like this squad and have again really enjoyed this season obviously, but the CL is such a step up.

 

I actually think we've had some decent draws in Europe recently. Last 2 CL groups especially and then the likes of Copenhagen,Bodo and even possibly Valencia that we didn't make the most of, so I'm just taking the "it is what it is" approach and hoping for the best.

 

Thank * Burnley and Luton aren't in it

 

Fair play, you made me laugh with that. I do think Burnley and Luton are better than us; but they're clearly not as strong as many of those Pot 4 teams or most of the Pot 3 teams.

 

That's my point. Even a rubbish Hun team has massively outperformed us in Europe.

We have punched way under our weight in Europe for at least a decade now and I'm fed up with it.

 

I don't feel like I know enough about teams in Europe to have a valid opinion because unless celtic are involved I never watch the champions league. But from a distance a couple of things make me a bit more confident than you.

Firstly, Rangers have objectively been worse than celtic for some time and yet they can get decent results against 2nd and 3rd tier teams in Europe. Over the last 5 years they've held their own against some pretty good teams - Galatasaray, Benfica, Sparta Prague, Dortmund, Leipzig, etc. Those teams are all probably Pot 3/4 teams in the champions league. The counter argument of course is that when they did play in the champions league they were pumped, but all the same they do adapt better to playing those level teams in Europe than we do.

Second thought is that last season in the champions league Copenhagen, PSV, and Leipzig finished 2nd and the likes of Galatasaray, Lens, Feyenoord, Braga and Young Boys finished 3rd. Those all feel like pretty fair benchmarks to measure celtic. While it may not be possible for this level of team to always finish 2nd and 3rd, it's still more than possible and they have shown they can hold their own against teams much bigger than them.

We seem to go into Europe now just accepting a pumping. Of course we are miles off the top teams but we shouldn't be expecting to just turn up and finish bottom year in year out yet that's where I think we are. There are plenty of similar sized and smaller sized clubs who have adapted to coping in Europe and it shouldn't be beyond Celtic to figure it out.

 

Win league next season with Huns second we will start 2025/26 CL in the play offs with Huns starting in 2nd rd.
Due to losing coefficient teams as a whole from Scotland drop from 10th to 14th ranked.

 

Say if we were to somehow qualify into the knockouts and say the Huns also got to last 16 of europa could that boost our coefficient up to get us auto entry? Or is it too hard to get

 

No, 2025/26 entryway is decided by points upto and including 23/24. 24/25 will decide 26/27 entry.

In theory if Scotland is one of the top 2 countries from next season but you'd need Hearts, Kilmarnock and St Mirren to all do really well on top of us and the Huns both improving.

 

I don't disagree with any of that. It's not even like Rangers have been amazing or anything. Like you say, we have objectively been better than them over the period.

And yet, if we have failed so miserably over a decade or more, that starts to not look like bad luck. That starts to look like a pattern. This season's CL campaign was the easiest draw we're ever likely to get and Ange's campaign had the best chance of 3rd we're ever likely to get and the result, both times, was dead last.

Add to that, we seem to be getting weaker not stronger. We didn't replace Jota. We didn't replace Starfelt. We didn't replace Mooy. It took us a year to replace Giakoumakis and even then we did it with a loan with no option to buy and so now we're all sweating about whether we can actually sign Idah or not. This summer, we will lose O'Riley and we will lose Hart. I'm sure we will break with tradition and replace them adequately... not. McGregor will be a year older.

I can't remember the last time I felt so pessimistic about Celtic and yet folk are getting excited about the CL.

I genuinely hope I'm wrong and we're about to have our best summer window in years and come back stronger rather than weaker.

 

I think we should sweat more on if we can keep Kyogo rather than getting Idah although I would love both of them to be there.

 

Somehow, I feel quietly confident of keeping Kyogo. Hopefully don't regret saying that.

 

I don’t see us being weaker, that might be impossible if we can get rid of the dead wood floating around the edges of the team, if we can get. Quality GK CD and attacking CM to replace O’Riely bring back Idah keep Kyogo, Hatate and Maeda replace MJ with another winger then I think the we would be a LB away from a quality team although I like taylor I just think we need an upgrade

 

Funnily enough, I agree with your hypothetical. We are just those 6 signings away from a quality team. No arguments there from me. However, do you think we actually are going sign 6 quality first-team players in one summer while hanging on to everyone but O'Riley? That's over 50% of a new team.

 

So am I. So is everyone. It wasn’t a rubbish hun team though. But your point was that we are deluded as a fanbase. My point is that if the huns were able to reach a European final, then why are we deluded to think we should be able to beat some of the teams you rattled off previously?

 

When you’ve completed the tournament you’re entering fans are naturally going to have unrealistic expectations…esp since the financial landscape has changed since we won the big one.

Having no challenge in Scotland over the last decade it’s not hard to imagine just how difficult the step up in class must be to deal with compared to playing diddy’s at Fir Park.

The Huns team that reached the EL final were definitely pretty poor but that was almost a miracle in terms of where they’d been in 2012. The average fan couldn’t believe what they were witnessing. There was a lot of emotional hysteria for their players to feed off in the home games. We all know how desperate Huns are to feel superior again. To be back to pre 2012.

It’s still as good a gage as any that we really do have the potential be a much sharper team in Europe. If the fans demand it the suits will deliver it. Remember thinking the Atletico home game was the best football I’ve seen a live Celtic team play in the CL in my 27 years…maybe just cos we’ve been so pish but nobody can deny we are a sleeping giant, our European potential has a huge trajectory.

 

I guess there's two things needing fixed.

First is quality of player. If we're going into the champions league with Scales and Taylor wlthey are going to be targeted and we are probably losing that game.

But the second is that if we do go into games with this level of player we need to at least be pragmatic. I remember watching us trying to break the PSG press passing from full back to keeper and back again. Doing that we aren't even giving ourselves a hope.

 

We need to add quality to be competitive in Europe, is the mantra..

We don't even have the current structure to scout players that could make an impact.

For me the board see Europe as bonus rather than a benchmark as to where we're at as a Team. Happy to gather domestic trophies, staying just ahead of the Huns and stay within our wage structure constraints.

 

The last two seasons in the CL has actually given me more hope. We were able to hurt teams in both campaigns, which is something I don’t think we managed when Rodgers was here first time round (Anderlecht away aside). Rodgers showed last year that he can play a different way to when he was here before. The summer window last year resigned us to last place in a favourable group however, which was down to our tinpot board. I live in hope that they actually back him this year, and let’s see what our success can look like. All we want is to see the best Celtic team possible on the park, well most of us do anyway. With the finances we have available, and did last year as well, we aren’t seeing that.

 

Have I read this right? You think Burnley and * Luton are better than Celtic? I think I’m going to give the internet a rest for a while.