Celtic return to the Champions League Group Stage ready for the challenge of overcoming European giants. Read on to discover more.
Celtic F.C. (also known commonly as Celtic or The Hoops) are looking to make history and win the 2022/23 UEFA Champions League group stage and advance to the final. The draw is scheduled to take place in Istanbul, Turkey, on August 25th, and it will be streamed live on television worldwide from 18:00 CET.
In the group stage, Celtic could face several big clubs, such as Real Madrid, AC Milan, Paris Saint Germain, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Manchester City, or Chelsea, to name just a few. Barcelona, Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Eintracht Frankfurt, and Ajax are other potential teams that Celtic could face in the opening stages of the Champions League.
These teams dwarf Celtic’s wage package, a key indicator of team performance. While Celtic’s fanbase is globally impressive, and they’re often touted as a team that could be a force should be be enveloped in a larger league, potential oppositions are daunting prospects. Fans are eager for Premier League tickets for the stars on show every week, for the incredibly high level of quality from teams in 14th place, let alone 1st. Celtic will have to contend with this calibre. It could be their priority is simply not to be embarrassed on their return to the Champions League proper.
What is the Champions League?
The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is one of the most prestigious leagues in men’s professional football. Organised by UEFA (the Union of European Football Associations), it’s an annual
tournament contested by some of the best teams from Europe’s top divisions. The early stage of the tourney is a round-robin group stage, and there are usually four teams in each group.
The teams play each other twice, and the winners of the group, along with the runners-up, all advance to the next knockout round of 16. These teams also go on to play each other twice. The third-place teams from the group stage will enter a knockout round of play-offs where the winners earn a spot in next year’s Europa League, and the teams who finish rock bottom of the group stage are knocked out of the tournament.
When did it all start?
The inaugural Champions League was in 1955, and since then, a total of 22 different clubs have won the cup. Real Madrid has won the Champions League a total of 14 times – more times than any other club in the tournament’s history, and Juventus have been the runners-up a total of seven times – also more times than any other club.
A.C. Milan has won the Champions League seven times, and Bayern Munich has won on six separate occasions. Other notable winners over the years have included Liverpool (six), Barcelona (five), Ajax (four), Manchester United (three), Inter Milan (three) and Juventus (two).
Celtic F.C.’s history in the Champions League
We have to go all the way back to 1967 to a time when Celtic last won the Champions League (European Cup), beating Internazionale (Inter Milan) 2-1 in the final. In 1970, Celtic made it to the final once again, but this time they lost 2-1 to Feyenoord after extra time. Can Celtic do the unthinkable and go all the way this year? They are one of the most successful football teams in Scotland, having won the Scottish League championship a total of 52 times, so they have a good chance.
They won the league as recently as 2021/22, which is how they qualified for this year’s Champions League, beating fierce rivals Rangers F.C. who could only qualify for the Europa League.
