Celtic’s long wait for a successful European campaign is set to continue for at least another year after they were dumped out of this year’s UEFA Champions League by Lazio. We take an in-depth look at the full Celtic European record, two decades on from their previous appearance in a final.
The Italian side defeated Brendan Rogers’ men 2-0 in Rome to book their place in the last 16 and leave Celtic rooted to the bottom of Group E. Two late goals from Lazio legend Ciro Immobile proved the difference for the Serie A side and left Celtic boss Rogers admitting his squad needs an overhaul.
He told BBC Sport: “We need to add quality. That’s the glaring thing that stands out”
“This group has shown they can compete in some games, but what makes the difference is genuine quality. That’s something we can hopefully resolve over the next couple of windows.”
With three points from their last 11 Champions League games and now 15 without a win – a new record for a British side – Celtic have not been competitive in Europe for a long time.
There have been flashes of brilliance. Their phenomenal 2-1 victory over Barcelona in November 2012, despite having only 23% possession and completing just 303 passes to Barca’s 999, stands out. As does the 1-0 win against Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United in 2006, but they are rare occurrences.
The past two decades have been a torrid tale of failure and disappointment for a fallen giant of European football. The 1967 European Cup winners made the final three years later in 1970, before another long spell of mediocrity.
When Did Celtic Last Play in a European Final?
In 2003, Celtic were agonisingly close to tasting European success once more.
A stellar run to the UEFA Cup Final saw them knock off English clubs Blackburn Rovers and Liverpool as well as Celta Vigo and VfB Stuttgart. Martin O’Neill’s Hoops then faced off against Portuguese giants Porto, with a certain Jose Mourinho in the opposing Dugout.
Around 80,000 fans travelled to Seville in what UEFA described at the time as “the largest travelling support to have assembled for a single game”. Celtic’s incredible following was rewarded with the FIFA Fair Play Award as “the Bhoys from Seville” made their presence known.
But it was Porto who struck first after a cagey opening half. Brazilian striker Derlei slotted home a rebound following Dmitri Alenchev’s parried shot to give the Portuguese side a 1-0 lead at the break. The lead didn’t last long, as Celtic legend Henrik Larsson’s headed equaliser restored parity with his 200th Celtic goal.
Five minutes later it was 2-1 to Porto after Deco’s cross was converted by Alenichev, only for Celtic to level things once again within minutes. Another Larsson header made it 2-2 at the end of normal time.
A second yellow card for Bobo Baldé reduced Celtic to ten men in extra time, and in the 115th minute Derlei reacted quickest again to put Porto 3-2 up and secure the victory.
With Mourinho at the helm, Porto would go one better the following season, lifting the Champions League trophy as they defeated AS Monaco 3-0 in the 2004 final. The “special one”, as he was later dubbed, would go on to win five European trophies as a manager, most recently the 2022 UEFA Europa Conference League with AS Roma.
Celtic’s Long Wait Continues
But for Celtic, it’s now two decades and counting since they made even the quarter finals of a European competition. That same season as Porto lifted the Champions League, Celtic were knocked out 3-1 on aggregate by Villarreal in the last eight of the UEFA Cup.
Celtic have not made it past the group stage of Europe’s top competition for ten years either. In 2013 they were defeated 5-0 by Juventus over two legs, knocking Celtic out of the Champions League at the last-16 stage in their most recent knockout appearance.
Today’s squad are a far cry from the side that came so close 20 years ago, with the likes of Larsson, Stiliyan Petrov and Neil Lennon featuring in a squad stacked with quality. But despite Brendan Rogers suggesting improvements to the squad are coming, it will be another year at least before Celtic can right 20 years of European wrongs.
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