The Champions League campaign has not gone well for Celtic in terms of results. They do not even have much hope left of qualifying for the Europa League via a third-spot finish in their group. Having played four matches thus far, the Hoops have collected only one point, from a 1-1 draw against Shakhtar Donetsk.
After a solid summer transfer window, Ange Postecoglou made no secret of his ambitions to show progress in Europe. And while the performances have been positive, the Hoops just could not take their chances and get the results.
While the results have been far from what the Parkhead faithful would’ve desired, Postecoglou’s side has amassed loads of plaudits from their European outings this season, with coaches and players of clubs acknowledging their quality.
RB Leipzig star and Sweden international, Emil Forsberg, has become the latest player to heap praise on Celtic after the German club’s 2-0 victory over the reigning Scottish champions in midweek. As reported by Glasgow Times, he said:
"“They are a fantastic team and they play well, making good chances. In these kinds of games it’s important they score when they get those chances against good teams.“I think Celtic are a really good team. They have some fantastic players in the midfield and at the back. I think they play some really good one-two combinations. That impressed me a lot.“Also the way they did that in the last third. But against us they didn’t have the ability to score. Like I said, they need that finishing touch a little bit more. But I am sure it will come.”"
RB Leipzig star seemed very impressed with what he saw against Celtic
The gap between Celtic and third-placed Shakhtar Donetsk stands at four points, meaning that the Hoops must win their next two games or beat the Ukrainian side, and get at least a draw out of the match away at Real Madrid, while hoping that Igor Jovicevic’s team end up losing both of their games in hand.
It goes without saying that that is a big ask and the probability is that Celtic will be finishing at the bottom of their group. But then, stranger things have happened in football so let’s see how things go from here.
Ultimately, Celtic failed to meet the expectations that were raised after their opening day performance against Real Madrid. But if they can take this as a learning experience and improve themselves with it, then this Champions League campaign will prove to be a positive endeavour in the long run for the Hoops.