Celtic have dominated Scottish football in recent years, winning the SPL title in the last three seasons. However, it’s difficult to judge the Hoops on their league form as they have had such little competition in their domestic league in recent decades.
Their old firm rivals, Rangers, have struggled to mount a realistic title challenge for most recent seasons. Their European campaign may be a better gauge of the team’s current quality and situation.
Recent struggles in European competition
The Glasgow outfit were the first British team ever to win the European Cup in 1967 under the late great Jock Stein. However, the 2-1 victory in Lisbon over Italian giants Inter was the last time Celtic won a European trophy.
In recent years, they have come close to European silverware, but it has always eluded them. Just a few years after winning the competition, the Hoops finished as runners-up in the 1970 European Cup once again.
More recently, Celtic also finished as runners-up in the UEFA Cup in season 2002/03. Since then, the Hoops have struggled to make an impact in European competitions.
In seasons 2022/23 and 2023/24, the Glasgow giants exited the Champions League at the group stage. The season before that, they had exited the Europa Conference League at the play-off stage against Norwegian team Bodo/Glimt.
A much more positive Champions League campaign in season 2024/25
The change of format in the Champions League worked in Celtic’s favour. The Hoops played eight games in European football’s elite competition, winning three, drawing and losing just two to finish 21st in the league table, and qualifying for the play-offs.
The Hoops’ most impressive result and performance of their European campaign came with a 3-1 home win over highly rated German outfit RB Leipzig. Brendan Rodgers’s team also hammered Slovan Bratislava 5-1 at Celtic Park and beat Swiss side Young Boys 1-0.
However, there was also a 4-2 defeat at Aston Villa and a 7-1 loss at German giants Borussia Dortmund, which were big defeats, although both teams were tough opponents.
All three of their Champions League victories in the league stage came on home soil. If they had produced better results on their travels, then they may have managed to make the last-16 without needing the play-offs.
As it was, they played in the play-offs against formidable German giants Bayern Munich. They suffered a narrow 2-1 home defeat to the Bavarians in the first leg of the play-off round, but the performance was a strong one, and they still had an outside chance of progressing into the last-16 of the competition.
The Hoops produced one of their best displays of the season at the Allianz Arena and even took the lead on the night through a goal from German star Nikolas Kuhn just after the hour mark. The goal would have been enough to take the tie into extra-time, only for an Alphonse Davies effort in the final minute of the clash to break the visitor’s hearts. The Canadians’ goal took Bayern through to the last 16 on aggregate courtesy of a 3-2 victory.
The tie was always going to be difficult against one of European football’s elite. Bayern gets the better of most opponents, so the displays that Celtic put in against the men from Munich over the two legs said a lot about where the team is in terms of development.
It was that tie that showed that Celtic are getting better and can attempt to make an impact on European football’s biggest competition. The change of format may have played a part in that improvement, but the feeling about the European campaign just felt more positive than in previous seasons.
The start of a giant rising again
There is no doubt that a club with a history and a fanbase of Celtic deserves to be challenging at the top table of European football. Unfortunately, the Scottish giants have struggled in the Champions League because of a massive financial gap between the Hoops and many of European football’s elite clubs.
In reality, Celtic have nowhere near the same level of quality as many of the top teams in the Champions League. However, their performance against Bayern offered a glimpse of what could be a team edging towards the progress they need to become a major force again on the European stage.
Although they may not be ready to challenge European football’s big boys yet, the current team under Rodgers seems to be moving in the right direction.
Hopefully, the team can build on this season’s performance in the Champions League in future seasons and eventually, however unlikely as it may seem, that the team can become a real force in the European game.
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