Celtic’s struggles in the Champions League over the years have, at times, been a difficult watch.
However, under Ange Postecoglou there was a belief that despite who Celtic faced in the competition, we would go into each game to have a go.
And despite the poor results, the fans were optimistic that there was enough in the team to at least progress out of the groups in due course.
Under Brendan Rodgers this season, Celtic were very close to pulling off two major results at Parkhead. There is no doubt we should have beat Lazio in the opening game and had the team not tired, Atletico Madrid could been the next big European scalp.
However, it wasn’t to be. Celtic crashed out of the competition with four points but did end their winless streak in the tournament with a final match day 2-1 win over Feyenoord.
And whilst elimination from the Champions League can largely be called a failure, Paul Lambert has shared an encouraging view on the teams’ performances this season.
Lambert said [Football Faithful], “The bottom line is they haven’t got the same finances as a lot of teams. Can they probably compete better with teams on a similar budget? Yeah, probably.
“I was at the Lazio game at the Stadio Olimpico and there wasn’t much in it. I was at the Atletico Madrid game and up until the sending off you didn’t know where the game was going. They obviously flexed their muscles and ran out comfortably in the end. They’re not far from it, it’s just that little bit of quality.
“Should they be doing better than one or two points? Yeah, with the size of the club. But the facts are they don’t have the money that an Atletico or a Lazio gets, and can’t pay those figures.
“What I would say is that if you gave Celtic the same finances as everybody else, especially in England, then you would see an unbelievable superpower because it’s that big.”
And therein lies the problem. Finances. It was ever thus and will always be the major factor that will stop Celtic, or at least, hinder us, from progressing in Europe’s top competition.
If Celtic took their chances against Lazio in the opening game and weren’t victim to unfortunate refereeing against Feyenoord and Atletico Madrid then who knows how this year’s campaign might have turned out?
Let’s hope Lambert is correct. Let’s hope that it is just a little bit of quality that Rodgers needs to help progress in the Champions League.
I fear that won’t be the case because the new format next season means that progress in Europe is going to be extremely difficult for Celtic in the future.
In other news, Carlos Corberan delivers early Mikey Johnston verdict after on-loan Celtic man scores first goal
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