Celtic are preparing for their second league phase fixture in the Europa League, facing Benfica away from home on Thursday night. The Bhoys dropped important points in their home opener, losing to Ferencvaros, and they face a tough test against a Benfica side that more than held its own in the Champions League last season.
Martin O'Neill and his group know they are up against it in Portugal, and it will be seen as a huge boost if they can even bring a point back, especially given how much they have struggled against good sides in recent times.
The concerning part for the Hoops is that if they return from Portugal empty-handed, it leaves them with only six games to find enough points to progress to the next round of the competition.
How the Europa League works
As most will know by now, the top eight teams from 36 teams competing will automatically reach the Round of 16, skipping the knockout playoff round, while the teams that finish ninth to 24th progress to the knockout playoff round, with the first eight going in as seeded and the next eight unseeded. The remaining teams are eliminated.
The winners of those playoff ties then go in as unseeded teams in the Round of 16, with each one paired with a team that qualified for that round automatically.
How many points to Celtic need to progres?
We only have two previous seasons to work with to get an idea, because that's when the competition changed to the current format.
Last season, it would have taken a minimum of 16 points and a goal difference of plus five to automatically qualify for the Round of 16. Meanwhile, it took nine points plus a goal difference of at least minus five to progress to the playoffs. For context, Celtic advanced to the playoffs as an unseeded team with 11 points last season.
In the previous season, which was the 2024/25 edition of the competition, it took 14 points plus a goal difference of at least plus four to reach the Round of 16 automatically, while it took 10 points and a goal difference of minus two to secure progression to the playoff round.
What we can deduce from the small sample size is that it has so far taken between 14 and 16 points to qualify for the Round of 16 automatically, while it has taken 9 to 10 points and a not too damaging goal difference to reach the playoffs.
Celtic remain on zero points for now, and if they return from Lisbon empty-handed, they will need to fine 9-10 points from six games to stay in the competition beyond the league phase.
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