Celtic legend Martin O’Neill has delivered a scathing assessment of the club’s Champions League exit, claiming the result was entirely Celtic’s own doing.
O’Neill, who famously led Celtic to a European final in 2003, spoke with clear frustration at the lack of intensity, urgency and belief shown across the two legs. Despite Daizen Maeda passing up a golden chance late on, the former boss felt the overall performance simply wasn’t good enough.
The ex-Celtic gaffer said the team failed to build any real momentum across either match and that their elimination was the result of not doing enough when it mattered most. His words echoed the wider anger among supporters who watched another European opportunity slip away.
O’Neill also touched on what it means to represent Celtic in Europe, pointing out the ambition that comes with managing and playing for a club with such history and expectation.
He said: (Amazon Prime Video Sport), “Celtic, it’s their own fault. They are out of a competition they should be in.
“They haven’t done enough over the two games.”
“We had the Maeda moment, he should score the goal. But there was never a sustained six or seven minutes where they put the opposition under real pressure. It just never happened.”
“When I stepped into Celtic, not that I expected to win the European Cup, but that’s what you aspire to. That’s what Celtic football club is built on.”
O’Neill’s verdict cuts deep because it comes from someone who knows exactly what it takes to lead Celtic on the European stage. His comments underline the growing feeling that standards have dropped when it comes to competing at this level.
His point about the lack of sustained pressure reflects a broader issue, Celtic were flat, passive, and never looked like imposing themselves over two legs. There was no spell where they really turned the screw, and that ultimately cost them dearly.
Supporters will hear O’Neill’s frustration and recognise it as their own. This is not just about a shootout defeat, it’s about a club failing to match its own ambitions on the European stage, again.
The expectation, as O’Neill said, is to strive for greatness in Europe. Right now, Celtic are falling well short of that, and questions will continue to mount both on and off the park.
