Celtic’s next Europa League tie takes Martin O’Neill to Bologna as qualification from the league phase hangs in the balance.
After Celtic beat Feyenoord, the Parkhead club climbed up to 24th place in the Europa League standings with seven points after six games.
Despite damaging defeats to SC Braga at Celtic Park and FC Midtjylland in Denmark, Celtic still have the chance to get out of the league phase as Martin O’Neill can still take the Bhoys into the knock-out phase of the competition.
But how many points will guarantee Celtic qualification with fixtures against Bologna and Utrecht coming up?
Celtic told nine points ‘could be enough’ to secure Europa League qualification
It appears that if Celtic avoid defeat in their final two Europa League matches, qualification from the group stage could be on.
Data site Football Rankings posted on X, “10 points will be enough to secure the Top 24 spot and the Europa League Knockouts!
“9 points could be enough.
“17 points will be enough to secure the Top 8 spot and the Europa League – Round of 16!
“16 points should be enough.”
So, Celtic have two opportunities to get out of the group phase, surely they can take at least one of them, right?
Celtic’s most historic result in the Europa League
Celtic fans have enjoyed many historic nights in Europe, especially in the Champions League.
But for the Europa League, it is a very different story. The Parkhead club have not been involved in the competition much, but one historic result stands out by far.
Celtic’s win in Lazio in 2019 was the club’s first-ever victory on Italian soil and it guaranteed qualification from the group phase with three games to spare.
Let’s relive that magical night:
Can Celtic pull off a similar result in Bologna on Thursday night? Fans will certainly be hoping so.
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