Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou has insisted his side must become a consistent Champions League team in order to strive for more success in the competition.
This season, the Bhoys made their return to the most prestigious club competition in the world for the first time in five years.
Whilst there were high hopes going into the group stages, it has ultimately been a disappointing campaign for Postecoglou and his players.
Going into matchday six, the Hoops sit bottom of Group F, having yet to pick up a victory over Real Madrid, RB Leipzig or Shakhtar Donetsk.
However, there have been small signs of positivity in each of Celtic’s performances across the first five matches, taking the game to some of Europe’s best club sides.
For many, the difference this year has been the experience these other clubs hold over the Parkhead club, who are now striving to become a consistent Champions League side, similar to Shakhtar.
Speaking ahead of his team’s final European outing of this season, Postecoglou was asked what he and his players must do to close the gap on superstar teams such as their Spanish/German opponents.
The 57-year-old provided a simple response, stating that the most important thing is making sure we qualify for the tournament each year as we look to bounce back from five years away from the Champions League.
Postecoglou believes that by gaining more experience, his side can ‘chip away’ at the competition by consistently playing at this world-class level.
He said [Celtic FC]: “I think the first part of it is to make sure we’re here next year. What we can’t do, as a club our size is qualify for this tournament every three, four or five years.
“I think you can’t really gain any traction or make any sort of progress with that sort of absence. Because part of competing at this level is just the experience of competing.
“We’ve seen it with a club like Shakhtar. They’ve consistently been in the Champions League, so their players are exposed to it year in and year out.
“For our players, most of them, this is their first sort of understanding of what it takes to play at this level. Now, for us to make progress, and it’s not going to be massive progress, but I think you can chip away at it. I really believe that.
“You’ve seen it with other clubs at different times. And with clubs our size, I think it’s a matter of being consistently playing at this level, having a real kind of belief in your football, and I think eventually what happens is you kind of hit a sweet spot, where things go your way.
“And you do need things to do your way, your footballs good, and there’s real belief and experience. In any given year, you can make an impact. But I don’t think it’s a linear thing; I don’t think every year you improve, you get closer, not for a club like ours.
“It’s just, you’ve got to be in there every year, knocking on the door and eventually, you’ll get the response you want.”
First Champions League experience has set Celtic up for return; now we must make sure we are here next season.
Although our first Champions League experience under Ange Postecoglou has been a disappointing one, there has been plenty of learning curves throughout.
In each game, we have shown we can compete playing the Postecoglou way. But, we must learn from our mistakes in those fixtures to improve as a UCL side.
Ultimately, this experience has set the former Socceroos boss and his squad up for their return next season, where we will look to utilise these games and show what we have learned from competing against the best.
After the conclusion of tonight’s fixture, it is crucially important that we switch our full attention to being the best we can domestically.
Winning the Scottish Premiership title will grant us access to the competition once again, and in order to achieve Postecoglou’s long-term goals, the Hoops must be involved regularly.
So, we must strive for success in Scotland once again to continue our improvements each year in Europe.
In other news, Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid squad strength revealed ahead of Celtic clash.
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