Old Firm underdogs don’t have to be daunted by life at UEFA’s top table
BARCELONA prompted some air punching and whoops of joy. The treatment table took a kicking when Bayern Munich flashed up.
By the time it dawned on Viktoria Plzen’s players that the pot three Champions League team was Inter Milan, the wild celebrations were already making way for nervous laughter and a few David Brent shrugs for the camera.
In the age of the camera phone, nothing is sacred these days. And, as the champions of the Czech Republic were cast as the sacrificial lambs in the Group of Death, live footage of their reaction set the internet alight.
Perched in the arms of players were toddlers no older than two or three years old. As Group C, unfolded, they had to idea whether to laugh or cry.
For Celtic and Rangers, there is no ambiguity. No conflicting emotions or reason to fear what lies ahead. When the teams came out of the pot on Thursday evening, the over-riding emotion was excitement. Across Glasgow, news of Celtic playing Real Madrid and Rangers facing Liverpool produced a bolt of electricity so intense it added another zero to the power bills.
A jaunt to the Bernabeu is the trip Parkhead players and fans have craved for years. Jurgen Klopp, meanwhile, regards Rangers as a ‘proper challenge’ and that’s a testament to the impact the Ibrox club have made in Europe in recent times.
Inevitably, there will be times when Celtic fans watch the game in Madrid through the cracks of their fingers. Hair-raising moments when Mo Salah ties James Sands in so many knots the Ibrox utility man won’t know if he’s in Anfield or Arizona.
Scratch beneath the surface of the glamour ties against last year’s Champions League finalists, however, and Celtic and Rangers may just have landed the jackpot.
This column recently expressed the view that the Europa League might be the best either team could aspire to these days. The Champions League looked beyond them. The last time they played amongst Europe’s elite, Brendan Rodgers set Celtic up to go toe-to-toe with Paris SaintGermain and shipped 12 goals over two games. In between, came a 3-0 thrashing in Munich.
If Ange Postecoglou sticks by an idealistic determination to play open and expansive football, Celtic fans could suffer a nasty case of deja vu soon enough.
While Christopher Nkunku and Timo Werner are explosive attacking talents, however, pot two team RB Leipzig are not PSG or Bayern Munich.
Forced to play ‘home’ games in Warsaw due to the Ukraine war, meanwhile, the misfortune of Shakhtar Donetsk could work strongly in the Parkhead side’s favour.
The biggest worry for Celtic might be that Rangers prove themselves altogether better suited to life in the Champions League. A 1-0 win in Eindhoven served as a warning to an Ajax team on the cusp of losing star player Antony to Manchester United that Giovanni van Bronckhorst and his team have Dutch courage in spades.
Unbeaten at home in Europe for two years Rangers need to take full advantage of their own fortress at Ibrox.
The Italians will pose problems on the pitch through Georgian winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia — hailed as the new Maradona — and off it via their explosive fans.
If a place in the last 16 proves too much for the Old Firm — and it might — third place in either group is a realistic target. All considered, the chance to bank £40million and try their luck in the Europa League after
Christmas might be the best of both worlds.
We’ll hear plenty in the coming weeks about the good fortune of the big two being ‘good for Scottish football’.
While UEFA solidarity payments guarantee tidy sums for Premiership rivals, they won’t come close to what Celtic and Rangers are poised to rake in.
The two strongest clubs are about to become stronger still and, in a league where a team from outside Glasgow last won the title in 1985, that’s an unhealthy situation.
If nothing else, Scottish football feels relevant again. That’s largely due to the efforts of Rangers and Celtic and the reward for that is a chance to make hay while the sun shines. In recent years, the Champions League has been as inaccessible to clubs from the SPFL as the summit of K2. Trips to the cathedrals of world football have dried up as a dwindling band of elite clubs, funded by oligarchs, sheikhs and petrochemical corporations, contest the latter stages of the competition every season.
There’s no reason to think that will change this year. Yet, for teams like Celtic, Rangers and Viktoria Plzen, the rope has opened just enough to allow them some quality time with the VIPs.
And, so long as the aristocrats are passing round the champagne, players and fans might as well sit back, relax and enjoy the giddy buzz. Follow on Twitter @mcgowan_stephen