After Celtic went toe to toe with Real Madrid in the opening game of the Champions League this season, there were a lot of hopes that the club could actually make it out of their group and get into the last 16. Both RB Leipzig and Shakhtar Donetsk seemed like teams that were beatable.
Yet, with two group stage games still to go, Celtic are the ones whose hopes of making the last 16 are already over, having picked up just one point from their first four games. The only thing that they have left to play for in the competition is possibly making it into the Europa League and even that will be very difficult.
When it comes to performances, Celtic certainly did take a step in the right direction and for large parts, showed that they could not only compete with the likes of Real Madrid and RB Leipzig but even dominate them for spurts.
What let them down is their finishing. Celtic have only scored two goals in the group stage till now, with one of them being an own goal. With the chances that they have had, they could have hit double digits though.
Rio Ferdinand sends brutal Champions League message to Celtic
As reported by Glasgow Live, while speaking to BT Sport, Ferdinand said:
"“It’s a different level in terms of budget and quality of player. Scottish football is where it is at. It has been shown here for the level it is at. But you have to say when they come to town it is a party.”"
It is pretty clear that Celtic are moving in the right direction and are not a million miles away from hitting that ‘Champions League’ level.
But at the same time, it is safe to say that they are just missing that extra something going forward, which you need to win games in the Champions League.
They can afford to miss chances in the Premiership, because they will eventually get many more. That is not true in Europe and unsurprisingly, they were punished for being wasteful in front of goal.