Martin O’Neill: Celtic will have appetite to go further in Europe after Champions League run

Martin O’Neill believes Celtic will have a growing appetite to kick on again in Europe next season after a “terrific” run in the Champions League.

The Hoops reached the knockout stages of the top competition for the first time in over a decade, following wins over Slovan Bratislava, RB Leipzig, and Young Boys, and draws with Club Brugge, Atalanta, and Dinamo Zagreb in the League Phase.

They were knocked out in the last-16 play-off after an agonising injury-time winner for Bayern Munich in Germany sealed a 3-2 aggregate defeat.

And O’Neill, who was in charge for some memorable European nights, including wins over Juventus, Liverpool, and Ajax, during his five-year spell in the east end of Glasgow, believes that that run will stand Brendan Rodgers’ side in good stead for the season ahead.

He said: “We all thought that the new format would suit teams like Celtic, which is great, but just now, as you’re getting your feet together in European football, I think they were terrific.

“Recovering from the debacle against Dortmund, to go to Atalanta and get a result there, then beating Leipzig. And then to crown it all, a brilliant performance in Munich against Bayern Munich of all teams.

“So that all augurs really well for next season.  

“I’m quite sure (that they now have the base to take another step forward next season), there’s no question about it, and I don’t think there will be any resting on laurels or anything like that.

“I think that the run in the Champions League will actually have given them an appetite to go even further if that’s at all possible.

“I think it’s reawakened European football, big time over at Celtic Park.”

O’Neill, who won seven major honours, including a domestic treble, and reached a UEFA Cup Final when he was in the Celtic dugout between 2000-2005, believes his former club will be looking to improve again in the summer despite another successful season that ended with a Premiership and League Cup double.

And he insists that movements over at Ibrox might be a driving force in Celtic’s pre-season recruitment, but argues that a strong Rangers can be beneficial to the Parkhead men.

He continued: “Some players might leave the football club, and you will always have to supplement the squad regardless.

“But it’s like everything else. I’m looking at it from a managerial viewpoint, and every single season I was always saying to the board that we had to try and invest in the squad, because you want to try and stay as strong as possible.  

“You don’t know what might happen over the other side of the city. They’ve got a new manager coming in now, and for Celtic to stay strong, I think they really do need Rangers to be as strong as possible as well.

“I mean, going back to my time, I was up against Alex (McLeish) for a few years, and before that it was Dick Advocaat, but Rangers were incredibly strong at that time, really strong, so we had to be strong ourselves.”

Celtic were denied a world record ninth domestic treble when they fell at the last hurdle in a penalty shootout defeat to Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup final.

But O’Neill doesn’t think that result diminishes what was an overall successful season for his former club.

He said: “Of course, it’s disappointing because the treble was within their grasp.

“And I suppose, having beaten Aberdeen maybe ten days before the final, some people maybe felt that just turning up would have been enough to win the cup. but I’m quite sure that that was not the attitude.

“However, it’s been a great season with another championship won, and then, if you talk about the run in the Champions League, it was really excellent.”