I WAS BEGINNING TO THINK I WAS A CHAMPIONS LEAGUE JINX, SAYS GRIFFITHS:
SAYS LEIGH GRIFFITHS
FOR Celtic, the importance of qualifying for the group stage of the Champions League goes way beyond the cashing of a cheque worth in excess of £22million.
No one, with the possible exception of Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, would dispute that Parkhead on such nights significantly enriches the business stage of the world’s top club competition. Many of the true greats, Barcelona legend Xavi chief among them, hold that the atmosphere within one of the game’s true citadels has no equal.
But just because a club from outwith the ‘big five’ nations aspires to be a regular at the top table — and has all the credentials of an A-list guest — isn’t to say its place is secure.
In the eight seasons between Celtic first making the group stage under Martin O’Neill in 2001-02 and the last of Gordon Strachan’s three cracks at the competition in 2009, the club were marked present on six occasions.
Compare and contrast that with just two appearances in the past seven seasons and the importance of the result against Hapoel Be’er Sheva is underlined. Celtic were in grave danger of aspiring to be a Champions League team without the track record to back it up. Brendan Rodgers’ instant success ensures that’s no longer the case.
No matter how fraught and angstridden a sticky night in southern Israel proved to be, there’s no taking away from the measure of Celtic’s achievement.
If the names of those who potentially lie in wait — Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Napoli, to name but three — sound exhilarating, the list of notable absentees is a timely reminder how high the Scottish champions are now flying.
Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United will all cast envious eyes towards Glasgow in the coming months on account of their failure to qualify. Another former winner, AC Milan, didn’t even make the Europa League.
Given UEFA’s preposterous qualification system that sees the champions of Scotland, Denmark and Croatia forced to jump three hurdles while the third-placed teams — and soon perhaps the fourth — from so-called top nations waltz straight in, Celtic’s achievement is a welcome poke in the eye for Herr Rummenigge and the like.
Purely in a playing sense, however, it’s a career affirming moment.
When Leigh Griffiths signed for Celtic from Wolves two years ago, his then manager Neil Lennon’s assertion that he was a player with Champions League pedigree was met with a fair amount of scepticism. Not now.
‘It’s up there with the best,’ said the striker after the 5-4 aggregate win. ‘When I signed at this club, it was because I wanted to play Champions League football.
‘The last two seasons have been very disappointing — I was starting to think of myself as a jinx. But we’re there now. It’s a different manager and staff who have put the faith in us as players.
‘It was an intense pre-season. We had a meeting during it where we set our targets and this was one of them — in fact it was the No1 — to get to the group stage of the Champions League.
‘It’s where every player wants to be. It’s the pinnacle of your club career. We’re back among the elite.
‘We know we are going to draw at least one big name but we are just going to enjoy the draw. It’s one we are all looking forward to.’
If Griffiths came back to Scotland in the hope of reaching this stage, for Rodgers’ summer recruits there was more of an expectation.
Discard the platitudes emanating from the lips of Kolo Toure, Scott Sinclair and Moussa Dembele about their desire to light up the Scottish league.
Celtic’s trump card in recruiting players of their ilk was the Champions League and, now that’s come to pass, the Parkhead club’s hand has been strengthened even further.
Everton’s James McCarthy, a Celtic fan from birth, has interest from a host of Premiership clubs who could doubtless cover his £50,000-a-week wage on a loan deal.
Yet neither Newcastle, Sunderland, Watford, Crystal Palace nor Bournemouth can offer him what he probably craves most.
Scott Brown is one who could easily have moved to a club of such standing and was doubtless privately tempted by the lure of the English Premier League.
In the moments that followed three years of Champions League pain being put to bed, however, he wouldn’t have swapped his position for all the tea in China.
‘It’s up there with my best nights,’ said the Celtic skipper. ‘It was an extremely hard environment to come to. Their fans were brilliant for 90 minutes. But we’ve managed to dig deep.
‘At the end of the day, it’s a huge result. We’ve defended pretty much for 90 minutes. We lost two goals which we didn’t want to do, but we still managed to get through.
‘It’s a huge performance. It shows you what it’s going to be like on Champions League nights — really hard going away from home.
‘We know we are going to have to defend better than that and be more composed on the ball.
‘It’s a learning experience for us right now. We’ve got to do better away from home.
‘The last two years has been hard. We thought we were there against Malmo but lost a two-goal lead.
‘But we dug deep this season and, hopefully, we can produce on the big stage yet again.’
Despite declaring the game as his longest night in football, in many ways, the means of qualification was perfect from Rodgers’ perspective.
Had his side sailed through the second leg, his case for additional high-quality recruits may have been undermined.
As it was, the need for further funds to be made available could hardly have been plainer.
His team may have been juggling European and domestic fixtures in any event had they been eliminated on Tuesday but the higher calibre
Our No 1 target was to get to group stage of the Champions League