5 Reasons why Celtic struggle in Europe
The Scottish champions shipped seven goals in Paris
Celtic have gone 64 games unbeaten in Scottish football but a 7-1 defeat by Paris St Germain means they have now conceded 33 goals in their last 11 Champions League group games and won only once.
Here, Press Association Sport assesses the disparity in fortunes.
Money
Experience
Without the means to buy Champions League players, Celtic are forced to develop players into Champions League quality. Three academy products and seven players who are aged 24 and under faced PSG. Of the Celtic side which beat Barcelona in 2012, four were subsequently sold to English Premier League clubs for a profit.
Injuries
Strategy
Brendan Rodgers has put the focus on long-term development rather than damage limitation. As he said after losing 3-0 to Bayern Munich: “I’d rather lose playing how we want to play and how we want to work, as opposed to sit in and defending for 90 minutes and still lose.” Celtic are set to make progress on last year by qualifying for the Europa League following their 3-0 victory away to Anderlecht. They also drew home and away against Manchester City last season.
European trends
Results like Celtic’s Parc des Princes defeat are becoming more common as clubs from the big five leagues get richer and leave the rest of Europe behind. After the fifth round of matches, there have been 26 victories of three goals or more and nine of those have been by more than three. In the 2001-02 first-round group stage for example, there were only 10 wins of three goals or more and five winning margins above three.
