Where Celtic rank compared to Rangers in UEFA’s all-time Champions League stats

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If the Celtic fans are really honest with themselves, they will admit that the Champions League results over the past decade or so have not been to our satisfaction.

We have seen our club succumb to huge defeats from Barcelona and PSG under Brendan Rodgers and Real Madrid with Ange Postecoglou as the manager.

As Europe’s elite clubs pull away from the rest of the continent due to their vast financial resources, the results we enjoyed under Martin O’Neill, Neil Lennon and Gordon Strachan seem but a distant memory now.

Rodgers ended our long-standing winless run in the Champions League this season with a 2-1 win over Feyenoord to help improve our reputation, albeit slightly, in Europe’s top competition.

But looking at Celtic’s results overall in UEFA’s elite tournament, how does that compare to the best clubs in Europe and Rangers?

UEFA have published on their official website a list of clubs and their all-time stats in the competition at the end of season 2022/23 and Celtic still make the Top 50 of all 147 clubs that have participated in the competition since it revamped in 1992.

Celtic rank 42nd among elite Champions League clubs

Celtic currently sit in 42nd place in the all-time Champions League stats. With 72 appearances in the competition, the Hoops have won 18, drawn 12 and lost 42.

Not great reading but it’s significantly better than clubs with huge budgets like Villareal, Stuttgart and RB Leipzig.

It’s worth noting that Celtic only sits six places behind Spurs and four behind Lazio (who narrowly lost out on reaching the quarter-finals this year).

Sitting behind Celtic in 43rd place is Rangers. The Ibrox club have made 68 appearances winning just 12, drawing 33 and losing 33.

Four EPL sides make the top ten with Manchester United (4th), Chelsea (5th), Arsenal (9th) and Liverpool (10th).

So whilst Celtic have received harsh criticism for their results in the competition, when you look at the teams ahead of them in the list, the Hoops’ budget and quality of players are massively dwarfed by many clubs in Europe’s top five leagues.