Celtic boss Martin O'Neill knows his side simply have to win games from here on out in the Europa League if they want a chance of progressing to the next round.
The Bhoys came up short again on Thursday night, losing at home to Celta Vigo to make it three straight defeats to kick off their Europa League campaign.
It was always going to be a tough game against a very solid Celta side, but for the second time in as many European home games, they blew a lead to lose. Mika Baur scored the opener, and Celta scored twice in the space of three minutes, with Javi Rodriguez netting both.
It was another European collapse from the Hoops, who have work to do if they want to compete with better sides in Europe, and to stay in the competition, they certainly have work to do.
The Bhoys have five games remaining, and they will likely need nine or 10 points, keeping in mind they have Besiktas away and Marseille at home remaining on their fixture list, and the Besiktas game is next.
But there are no excuses from here on out. Celtic simply have to win games if they want to progress, and they have to win the majority of their games, even if they are so far only three points and five goals behind the final knockout playoff spot.
“We’ve lost three matches now at this moment," O'Neill told TNT Sports. "Remarkably, we’re still in with a chance.
“We’ve got to win. We’ve got to win here and we’ve got to win away from home.”
He added: "Tonight, we took the lead in the game. As you said, I think that if we get the second goal, we’ll probably win the match and it changes the whole dynamic of the game.
“It didn’t happen, that’s it. We have to find a way to win a football match in European games.”
Celtic have a tricky path to the knockout stages. Even if you look at their remaining fixtures with an optimistic slant and look at the games with Torreense, Omonoia and Union as winnable, which they may be, they are far from easy games for this Bhoys side.
Celtic couldn't beat Ferencvaros at home, and that was certainly a winnable game, so it's difficult to have confidence about their chances of beating those three sides, and while football doesn't work in such patterns, it is relevant enough to at least bring up that Omonoia did beat the Celta Vigo side that just beat Celtic.
Add us as a preferred source on Google