Celtic won by a goal to nil at the home of their fiercest rivals on Sunday afternoon. Few expected the champions to walk away from Ibrox Park with all three points, although a Kyogo Furuhashi strike late in the first half ensured victory.
All around, there were colossal performances in Brendan Rodgers’ team. Between now and the end of the current campaign, supporters will be hoping they can be replicated, particularly in Europe.
The Bhoys kick off their Champions League group stage campaign in two weeks’ time, away at Feyenoord. Ex-Celt Chris Sutton thinks it’ll be hard in Europe for his old team, though. He said (Daily Record): “The Champions League is going to be an acid test for the manager and fans will want to see progress. It’s going to be extremely tough to make a dent against Atletico Madrid, Lazio and Feyenoord, but Celtic have to try to make some inroads.”
Last year in Europe’s premier club competition, Celtic mustered two goals of their own in six matches. The Bhoys collected two points in total, and need to do better this time around.
Albeit the Celts must show up on the continent, Sutton admitted how quickly things can move on in football that Europe is now being spoken about after previous domestic failures. He said: “It’s funny. This time last week, there were concerns for Celtic about whether their domestic domination was at risk, never mind Europe. But that result at Ibrox changes the dynamic and, when he [Rodgers] says he did it with half a team missing, he wasn’t far wrong.”
Only a few weeks into the 2023/24 season, there has already been a wealth of drama thrown up so far regarding Celtic. The Champions League will bring yet more and it is a competition in which the Bhoys must show signs of improvement.
