Trivia
- Celtic straight into the group stages
- Celtic are fourth seeds in Group F facing Real Madrid (Spain), Leipzig (Germany) and Shaktar Donestk (Ukraine).
- FIFA’s Semi-Automated Offside Technology (SAOT) will be used throughout the UEFA Champions League group stage this season (and in the UEFA Super Cup too).
- Some have erroneously said that Celtic got group stage champions league place because of the efforts of Sevco; that’s incorrect as Celtic contributed more to the 5 year coefficient: Celtic – 34.000; Sevco – 31.250
- Sevco also in the group stages after qualifiers.
- First time in European Cup group stages for Postecoglu in management.
- Shaktar Donestk play their home games in Warsaw due to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
- Foundation CFC logo takes pride of place in away Champions League ties thanks agreed with Dafabet
- Real Madrid player Karim Benzema won the Ballon d’Or prize in Oct 2022.
- Celtic become first side to lose SEVEN home games in a row in the group stages! Run stopped in next match 1-1 draw to Shakhtar.
- Real Madrid away: Stéphanie Frappart was the referee, so this is Celtic’s first ever match officiated by a woman.
- Celtic bottom of the group, so out of Europe with no dropdown to UEFA cup.
- Celtic are one of only 22 Clubs who’ve won the European Cup trophy while Sevco became only the 22nd Club who never won a point in a Champions League group stage… so whatever end of the scale you look at, Scotland are well represented.
- Scotland is allocated 10% (€6.8m) of UK TV pool, based on population. #CelticFC receive slightly more as the first half is split on final position in last season’s Premiership. #RangersFC lost all 6 group matches, so receive no prize money, while Celtic get €1.9m for 2 draws.
- Celtic end bottom of the group, as do the others Scottish sides in their groups in this European campaign. Sevco humiliated by being bottom with a group stage worst record of 0 pts and -20GD. Hearts in the Conference League at least won a game!
Overview
“If anyone can tell me that we don’t deserve to be there or we’ve been outplayed or looked out of place, then I reckon they’re talking from an agenda…”
Ange Postecoglou insists Celtic have shown they belong in the Champions League. (Oct 2022)
Celtic entered their first group stage in this competition after five long frustrating years, automatically having won the league which the support were thankful for. After the traumas of the knock out stages in previous years it allowed the club to take advantage and manage transfers in with a degree of greater certainty over the summer without need of a late rush.
Looking at the group, Celtic on paper had a difficult but more manageable group. As bottom seeds there was little to complain about with reigning European Cup Champions Real Madrid the pot one side. After many years of asking Celtic fans had landed the premium tie they hope for. RB Leipzig were a pantomime villain side funded by the Red Bull company in a very corporate manner (making them arguably the most loathed side in Germany). Shaktar Donestk on the other hand were in a difficult situation due to being based in Poland due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which is best left for discussion elsewhere.
The matches
A loss to Madrid at Celtic Park was no surprise in the opener but Celtic held their own until inevitably Madrid found a breakthrough. The general opinion was positive and most were confident that going forward Celtic had a chance to make second especially as unfancied Shaktar won away at Leipzig! If anything this match raised hopes & expectations, in fairness quite fairly. A surprise defeat by Leipzig to Shaktar at home proved that second spot in the group was there for the taking.
The Shaktar away match was an odd one in that playing away from home in Europe is tough for any side, and winning even a point can be taken as a success. Shaktar Donestk were playing in Warsaw due to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, and so both sides could be argued to be playing away from home. After Shakhtar’s success in their opening tie, this was seen as a key game and a draw was a decent result and felt like two points dropped. Taking an early lead boded well, but Shaktar fought back for a draw. The frustrating part was that Celtic should have won this game, and in retrospect that could have wholly changed the future run in the group.
Fair to argue that as a measure of the progress of the first team under Postecoglu, that Celtic were disappointed with only achieving a single point in an away match v Shakhtar instead of winning all three. A decent away performance boded well.
It all thereafter turned negatively.
All the hopeful expectations came to a thundering halt following the back to back matches v RB Leipzig. Celtic were clearly second best in two humbling defeats 3-1 away and then 2-0 at home. Granted there was some misfortune with the loss of certain players due to injury, even during the matches but undeniably tactics were naive and play was under par. If Celtic were to prove that they were worthy of challenging at this level then RB Leipzig were a perfect challenge. An aggregate 5-1 defeat pushed Celtic to the foot of the table and humiliatingly out of the competition with two games left.
In fairness, Celtic did have their moments and could have pulled off a result but the aggregate score can’t be countered.
Surprisingly a number of key players were often under par in particular Juranovic and Maeda, when this stage was the ideal platform to demonstrate their talents. On the other hands, undervalued players like Taylor did well despite the challenge. Joe Hart was generally fine but a madcap moment in the away match v Leipzig saw him throw the ball out to an opposing player who duly scored. This came just a moment after VAR had reversed a goal for Leipzig so many Celtic fans were still celebrating when the error happened. Kind of summed up Celtic’s luck.
With a potential Europa League place still up for grabs, Celtic were holding on by their fingertips going in to face Shaktar at home. A frustrating draw coupled with a surprise victory for Leipzig over Real Madrid killed off Celtic’s final hopes for football in the new year. Celtic had drawn both games v Shaktar with the deciding factor between the clubs being one single excellent player, Mudryk. That had won them shock results whilst Celtic were pondering what was wrong.
The final game v Real Madrid was a surprise turn of events, with this being a token match for Celtic (to end last in the group regardless) but with Real Madrid needing a win to ensure a top position in the group. A 5-1 victory little flattered an admittedly far superior Real Madrid who even left World Player of the Year Benzema on the bench to come on later on. A decent encounter, marred only by contentious penalty decisions, a missed penalty by Celtic and to be honest a wasteful Celtic attack. Jota saved Celtic’s blushes with a world class free-kick near the close of the match, and gave Celtic fans at the match something to take pride in.
The final group match will also be remembered for being the first ever Celtic match to be officiated by a lady! She had a lot of justifiable criticism from some sections for her poor decision making during the game, but no worse than many male colleagues have also made in matches.
Admittedly, Celtic were once again at square one in the group stages BUT it was not unfair to expect more. Criticisms on the manager’s attacking philosophy were raised as a number of the goals came from counter-attacks. The manager’s formations & team selections often irked some when he could have pushed on more defensive or more holding midfielders. Mooy in particular looked out of depth due to his lack of pace albeit his skill was there.
Seemingly every Celtic European game: Set piece to Celtic in opponent’s half. Set piece taken. GOAL TO OPPONENT. Rinse and repeat.
Final thoughts on this European camaign, Celtic were reputedly “naive at this level” and it was a “learning curve” since Rodgers arrived but after recent campaigns in the Europa League, had Celtic & Postecoglu actually learnt or adapted much. Teams on smaller budgets had done much better so little excuse, for example M.Haifa beat Juve, Brugge topped their group, Sevoc knocked out PSV in the qualifiers, whilst Copenhagen/Zagreb/Salzburg got more points than Celtic.
All the Scottish sides in the groups (Sevco in Champions League and Hearts in Europa Conf Lge) did very poorly with Sevco humilated with the tag of the worst performing side in Champions League group history to date. It would be fun to grow on their poor stint, but Celtic’s form this season was little better. Celtic even made unwelcome history themselves with a group stage record of seven home defeats in a row, stopped only by the Shakhtar draw.
A poor & disappointing run. In a manageable group, Celtic floundered. Next time Celtic might not get a group as manageable as this one to test themselves.
Group F
| Team | GP | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 – Real Madrid (Q) | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | +9 | 13 |
| 2 – Leipzig (Q) | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | +4 | 12 |
| 3 – Shakhtar Donetsk (EL) | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | -2 | 6 |
| 4 – Celtic |
6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | -11 | 2 |
| Date | Competition | Home Team | Score | Score | Away Team | Report | Pictures | Notes |
| SEP | ||||||||
| 6 | European Cup | Celtic | 0 | 3 | Real Madrid | Report | Pictures | KO: 20:00; match 1 |
| 14 | European Cup | Shakhtar Donetsk | 1 | 1 | Celtic | Report | Pictures | KO: 17:45; match 2 |
| OCT | ||||||||
| 5 | European Cup | RB Leipzig | 3 | 1 | Celtic | Report | Pictures | KO: 17:45; Matchday 3 |
| 11 | European Cup | Celtic | 0 | 2 | RB Leipzig | Report | Pictures | KO: 20:00; Matchday 4 |
| 25 | European Cup | Celtic | 1 | 1 | Shakhtar Donetsk | Report | Pictures | KO: 20:00; Matchday 5; Out of Europe |
| NOV | ||||||||
| 2 | European Cup | Real Madrid | 5 | 1 | Celtic | Report | Pictures | KO: 17:45 Matchday 6 |
Quotes
“Irrespective of the magnitude of the clubs we play, every single one of them leaves Celtic Park knowing they’ve been in for a unique experience, an unbelievable experience.”
Ange Postecoglou
“If anyone can tell me that we don’t deserve to be there or we’ve been outplayed or looked out of place, then I reckon they’re talking from an agenda…”
Ange Postecoglou insists Celtic have shown they belong in the Champions League. (Oct 2022)
Vinicius Junior pre match on Celtic before final group match: “I’m not sure Celtic’s position in the group reflects their quality.””In the first game, they gave us a difficult first half & it was a tight game. I was sure they would pick up more points than they have. Maybe they have just been unlucky.”
Articles
Ange Postecoglou: Celtic belong in Champions League, says manager
By Alasdair LamontBBC Scotland
Last updated on
2 hours ago2 hours ago.From the section Celtic
Celtic players
Celtic have two Champions League games left to secure a Europa League berth
Ange Postecoglou says Celtic have earned the right to play in the Champions League and proved they belong at that level.
After another chastening week of three defeats in Europe for Scottish teams, the Celtic manager has defended his side, who have one point from four games in Group F.
“If anyone can tell me in the four games we’ve played that we don’t deserve to be there, or that we’ve been outplayed, I reckon they’re talking from an agenda,” he said.
“The only questions I’ve had from each of our games is about opportunities missed. Now opportunities missed suggests to me that we’ve got to improve some areas for sure, but it doesn’t say that we somehow should think that we don’t belong in a competition we’ve earned the right to be in.”
VAR to start in Scottish Premiership next week
Celtic’s Euro improvement ‘can’t be fast-tracked’
Asked whether Maccabi Haifa beating Juventus, or Club Brugge topping their group shows smaller clubs can punch above their weight, he said: “Look at those clubs historically. Have they always had those results? They haven’t, I’ll tell you.
“What it means is, the longer you’re in this competition, the more opportunities you have to grow and make an impact, but you’re not going to go in there for the first time and expect you’re going to dominate the most prestigious club competition in the world.
“From our perspective, we felt we’ve earned the right to be in this competition, we know the areas we’ve come up short in, but at no stage do I, or any objective observer, believe we’ve looked out of place.”
Celtic need to be ‘consistent qualifiers’
RB Leipzig’s 2-0 win at Celtic Park on Tuesday left Postecoglou’s team bottom of their group, four points below Shakhtar Donetsk. The Ukrainian side are well placed to take third place and enter the Europa League in the new year.
Postecoglou said he could not put a timeframe on his side being successful at the elite level, adding: “It’s about being at that level and having the chance to play at that level on a consistent basis. That means having to qualify for it and every year you want to grow.
“That’s what our objective needs to be, like most clubs our size. If you take away the big five leagues, the clubs that have made an impact at Champions League level are the ones that are consistent qualifiers for it.
“If this was our fifth or sixth year of being in the competition, I’d be having a different discussion.
“It’s all about perspective, what you’re trying to achieve. This is our first year back in for five years. I’m not going to accept people suggesting that somehow we haven’t earned our place or let the game in this country down.”
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