Celtic reaction: fabled atmosphere nosedives with decline; Postecoglou staying put; horrendous all-time Champions League record claimed as home form flips remarkably

The end of Celtic’s Champions League qualification hopes that followed from the 2-0 defeat to RB Leipzig in Glasgow’s east end could only demand some home truths.

Celtic's James Forrest displays his angst during the RB Leipzig loss with the club veteran the only squad member to know what it was like for the men in green and white to be a daunting force in the competition in the east end of Glasgow. A time now consigned to history with the appalling recent home form. (Photo by Rob Casey / SNS Group)

Fabled atmosphere nosedives with decline

Celtic’s struggle for competitive Champions League outcomes across the four group campaigns they have participated in over the past decade has taken all manner of tolls. It isn’t only the notion the club’s players are capable of conjuring up magical results under the lights at Celtic that has no basis in the current reality - seven home defeats on the spin in the competition seeing to that.

The fabled properties of the Parkhead arena on such evenings have also always been associated with an electric ambience apparently unrivalled in European football. This was nowhere in evidence as Celtic were lanced by Leipzig. Although Ange Postecoglou’s men had their spells in the encounter, and should have led at half-time, the fact the Germans began strongly becalmed the stadium. A quarter of a hour in the hush that enveloped the bowl made the scene resemble a midweek league hosting of Ross County. The legitimate collective neurosis that the club faithful can only feel about such assignments is having the effect of muffling the noise level. When your team has only two wins from 24 outings in the competition and has failed to score in eight of 12 home encounters in it, such occasions are rarely providing much to shout about.

Postecoglou staying put

There could be considered one upside to a Champions League campaign that has yielded Celtic one point from four games and - barring an unlikely set of results in the final two rounds of matches - will see them prop up Group F to drop out of European competition altogether next month. Ange Postecolgou has shown no signs of having itchy feet a mere 15 months into his Celtic tenure. Just imagine, though, if his team ripped it up in the Champions League following their jaw-dropping title turnaround last season. Then his stock in England would have risen to such an extent there is every possibility that an offer from down south mighty difficult to refuse would have materialised. Scottish football is held in such low regard across the border that merely dominating on the domestic scene is unlikely to prove a strong calling card for any manager in this country’s set-up and bring them truly desirable overtures. The position in which Postecoglou finds himself.

Horrendous all-time Champions League record claimed

It is incredible to consider that across their first 22 home games in the competition, Celtic lost only twice. Both these defeats came at the hands of Barcelona. The first came during the Martin O’Neill era, in 2004. It was the only such reverse over nine group stage games wherein seven wins and a draw were earned. The second was under his successor Gordon Strachan in the last 16 tie of February 2008. He had 11 home outings in the competition - with a last 16 scoreless draw against eventual winners AC Milan the year before - and overall boasts a record of seven wins, three draws and that one defeat.

Spin forward and, since they made it to the last 16 under Neil Lennon in 2012-13 with two wins and a draw in their home group games then, Celtic have played 12 times on their own patch in the blue riband tournament and won only once, with 10 defeats (one of these the last 16 tie with Juventus in February 2013). In losing all of their past seven, they have become the first team in the three decades of the competition to suffer such a fate.

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