Celtic will soon start preparations for the new campaign, and there is added excitement this year amid changes to the Champions League format.
The competition has expanded to a league phase of 36 teams, where the Bhoys will take on eight different opponents: four at home and another four on their travels.
Once all is said and done, first to eighth will go through to the last 16 automatically, whereas ninth to 24th will compete in a play-off tie to join them in the knockout rounds. Finally, 25th to 36th are eliminated with no Europa League dropdown function.
Understandably, that is a lot to take in. However, there is cause to be enthusiastic about a different type of continental campaign for Celtic supporters and one small increment from 2023/24 that can hopefully act as motivation.
Celtic can build on banishing unwanted Champions League record
Last campaign, Celtic finished bottom of their Champions League group on four points competing against Atletico Madrid, Lazio and Feyenoord.
However, there was a small silver lining on matchday six, when Brendan Rodgers led his side to a last-gasp 2-1 victory over Feyenoord courtesy of a Gustaf Lagerbielke header.
Before defeating the Eredivisie outfit, Celtic had gone ten years without a win in the competition at home, with their last away triumph coming against Anderlecht in 2017.
Now, nobody is suggesting what was essentially a victory based on playing for professional pride is going to kickstart the Hoops going on a long-standing run of results in Europe.
On the flipside, it might alleviate a small amount of pressure on a group of players who were regularly reminded about the unwanted record in their previous five group stage matches of the campaign.
Getting a monkey off your back can help you to loosen up in pressure situations and provide some hope for the future. Even if it cemented only a sliver of belief, Celtic need to take that into the new format in 2024/25.
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