Martin O’Neill is experienced in navigating Celtic through Europe…
But even he has a major headache ahead of Thursday’s Europa League clash.
With the team sat in third place behind Hearts and Rangers in the Scottish Premiership, O’Neill has enough on his plate on the domestic front.
Factor in that winter additions Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Joel Mvuka and Benjamin Arthur are all ineligible for European football, and the Celtic boss could be forgiven for prioritising the league.
But that isn’t how O’Neill is built.
On a scale of 1-10, how confident are you that Celtic can beat Stuttgart?
Let us know below
Martin O’Neill on Celtic Europa League headache
When Celtic lost 3-1 to Midtjylland in O’Neill’s first European match since his return, it looked like a long way back for their European ambitions.
But heroic away performances in Rotterdam and Bologna have paved the way for a knockout tie that once looked highly unlikely.
READ MORE: Brilliant Brazilian Celtic commentary surfaces of Julian Araujo winner vs Kilmarnock
Speaking after Sunday’s dramatic win at Rugby Park, O’Neill admitted that he had been uncertain about Celtic’s European hopes, but he now doesn’t want their efforts to go to waste.
He said: “Right, well obviously it’s against my nature, but I think that, what I didn’t want after beating Feyenoord – I thought that was the end for me anyway, in terms of games, of European matches…
“But when we came back and then getting a result in Bologna, I just didn’t want it to go to waste for the effort that the team had put in.
“So, we followed up, we beat Utrecht, then it gets you in. But that’s, the competition is like, if I want to be really honest about it, there’s some big, big teams with, still in that competition.
“And it’s a long way from home as well. Home meaning, a long way to go. Even if you went through against Stuttgart, who are in the Bundesliga, you’re still talking about into the last 16.
“That seems like miles away! So this is like the last 24. If it was a bit closer, you know, then you can think about it.
“It’s just, we’ll see what the energy’s like. But having said this, I wouldn’t want to give it up – I just wouldn’t want to, you know.
“You’d like to, but the coefficient eventually might help Scotland at some stage, you know. Long after I’m gone!”
What is the biggest difference you have noticed in this Celtic side under Martin O’Neill?
Celtic’s European performance so far
Celtic weren’t supposed to be in the Europa League this season – they have their disastrous Champions League defeat to Kairat Almaty to blame for their Thursday-Sunday schedule this season.
But it hasn’t all been bad in Europe this season. Along with Rotterdam and Bologna, Celtic’s performance against Red Star in Belgrade was also encouraging.
It’s also important to note the remarkable fact that O’Neill was the last Celtic manager to win a European tie after Christmas, doing so against Barcelona in the UEFA Cup in 2004.
Over the last decade-and-a-half, many of the club’s European campaigns have been desperately underwhelming; it would be very fitting for O’Neill to buck that trend.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
