Celtic are not going to be able to escape the current noise surrounding their inability to deliver on big occasions any time soon. The Bhoys went into the international break on the back of three straight defeats, which included back-to-back Old Firm defeats and a loss in their Europa League opener.
Pair those three defeats with their collapse in the Champions League qualifiers, and Celtic have only won one of five big games so far this season, with the only win coming in the first leg of that ill-fated qualifier.
When Celtic are tested, they are unable to stand up to the challenge, and that's because they look tactically ill-prepared, they don't have a strong enough squad, especially in midfield, and they look mentally weak.
Those issues must be solved by Martin O'Neill, who is going to take the time to look over his side's performances over the last few weeks during this international break to see if he can find the answers.
Ideally, Celtic would have liked to rebuild some confidence on the other side of the break with some winnable games, but that will not be the case.
Their first game back is against Motherwell which, granted, is a winnable game, but they then face Benfica away from home in the Europa League, Hearts at home in the Premiership, and then Celta Vigo at home in the Europa League.
That's another three big occasions, and more flat performances in those games will see the red flags turn into sirens.
Arguably, if Celtic fail to win either of those Europa League games, they will also be heading for a Europa League exit, given they will only have five games remaining to pick up at 9-11 points, and with some tough games still to play.
So, the pressure is on for Celtic, and it's not going to let up any time soon.
O'Neill also has the additional challenge of having to find and work on solutions without a number of his players, who are away on international duty. That Motherwell game could be crucial in getting back to winning ways, not that it will be anything close to a walk in the park.
But the Bhoys will be strong favourites, and if they don't win that one, one would have to fear for this Celtic side, given their current mental fragility, going into those three tough games when they will be expected to give better accounts of themselves in big occasions, even in Lisbon.
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