Celtic in Europe – On par or underachievement? Joebloggscity from The Celtic Wiki ponders the question and makes some interesting points…
A common but, in my opinion, highly misleading point often repeated in recent times is that Celtic
have achieved nothing in Europe this century and have been an also-ran.
Some have even added that Rangers have surpassed them by reaching two UEFA Cup finals. I, however, strongly disagree with that view and believe it needs qualification.
Firstly, the current footballing environment is heavily stacked against clubs outside the major
leagues. I don’t need to repeat the well-documented gulf between clubs from smaller countries and
those in the Premier League, La Liga, or the Bundesliga.
Celtic’s achievements are often unfairly measured against this uneven playing field. In reality,
punching above their weight is now the best Celtic can hope for. That’s manageable in one-off
matches or even two-legged knockout ties, but over the gruelling course of a long competition, it’s
next to impossible.
Even Dutch sides, once a European powerhouse from the 1970s to the turn of the century, have struggled in Europe this century.
So, what has Celtic achieved?
I’d argue that, in the current environment, their overall performance has been underwhelming but only marginally so. At the end of the day, if we’re measuring success, there’s only one competition that truly matters: the Champions League.
With the current format, a single defeat can completely derail a campaign, as has often happened to
Celtic, particularly in the qualifiers. In the group stages, Celtic have qualified for the knockout
phase four times in the first quarter of this century—once to the knockout phase play-offs rather
than the Round of 16, but still a hard-earned achievement.
Under Gordon Strachan, they managed this in two consecutive seasons, which is something to be proud of, especially as they took AC Milan to extra time in the knockout stages.
Compare this to old giants like Ajax: apart from their incredible run to the semi-finals in 2018/19,
they’ve also found themselves stuck in the group stages for much of this century.
The record across the rest of the clubs from smaller countries follows a similar pattern to Celtic’s. Using the Dutch as a benchmark, the last European trophy won by a Dutch side was the UEFA Cup back in 2002. Some sides from smaller nations have pushed further than Celtic, but these are generally one-offs.
On that basis, with the benefit of hindsight, I think Celtic’s European runs have been about as good
as could be expected—not that I’m entirely happy, as I feel they could have achieved so much
more.
At times, they’ve gone in naive or underprepared, but this requires good management and
experience—effectively, time. Better management from the board would also help in this regard.
Some might bring up the UEFA Cup, but it’s now an afterthought in Europe. The truth is that, for
many clubs, the real and sole prize from winning the UEFA Cup is qualification for the Champions
League the following season, not the competition itself.
Even if it’s through gritted teeth for some of us, there’s no denying Rangers’ achievement in
reaching the UEFA Cup final twice—though they never won it.
The abiding memory is more of Aaron Ramsey’s missed penalty and their fans drinking toilet water to stay hydrated. That’s about it.
For any individual club, reaching a UEFA Cup final is an incredible achievement in its own right, as
was the case for Celtic in 2003. Yet even then, most of us were fully aware that it was just that—a
final.
There was no scaling the heights of conquering Europe like the Lisbon Lions. For Porto, who
defeated Celtic, it was more of a springboard to winning the European Cup a year later, which
wholly overshadowed their UEFA Cup triumph.
So, in light of all this, what should Celtic do?
The fact is that competing in the Champions League is all that matters. It’s where the prestige and finances lie. The crumbs thrown at the UEFA Cup and the much-derided Europa Conference League are just footnotes.
A poor season in the Champions League is now more valuable to Celtic than a good season in the UEFA Cup. It’s what attracts players, brings in money, and provides the club with its biggest audiences, both on and offline.
We do regularly end up in the Europa League, and we should always make the most of it and
compete at our best. But we must simply keep persevering in the Champions League. It may often
lead to painful results, but the rewards, when they come, are timeless and ensure our club remains in
the spotlight in football.
Celtic in Europe – On par or underachievement
by joebloggscity 10 August 2026
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