Celtic bounced back from their heavy midweek Champions League defeat at the hands of PSG by running riot against Ross County on Saturday.
Manager Brendan Rodgers’ men strolled to an easy 4-nil victory to extend their domestic unbeaten run to 55 games, putting the 5-0 loss of Tuesday behind them.
Celtic are on track to defend their local treble, but could be without European football in January should they fail to finish in at least third place in the Group B of the Champions League.
Rodgers is aware of the obvious and huge difference in quality between the big-wigs and minnows as far as continental football goes, and admits Celtic don’t have a chance of upsetting the odds at the moment.
The Northern Irishman told The Telegraph ahead of weekend’s clash of how the Champions League is making it become very much impossible for a team like his to compete with the money-rich elites and powerhouses.
“For me, what’s interesting when you look at it is that teams used to have, say, one or two top players supplemented by other good players, but look at that Paris Saintt-Germain team and what they’ve got, all across the pitch – boys you wouldn’t think of at first. Verratti, Thiago Motta, Silva – a Brazilian captain,” Rodgers said.
“It is very tough, but it’s where you want to be. This is where the learning and development happens for your players, even if the reality is you are not going to win the Champions League. Every year it gets further and further away with the money in the game, whether people like it or not. We still want to be there.
“The money we get from Champions League is massive, but it’s nothing compared to some of these clubs. It makes it more difficult for clubs like us from countries like ours. Teams like us are going to have to play an extra game to even get there.
“It’s already well under way. It’s difficult, but we need to meet the challenge. It’s where we want to be, for many reasons.”
Celtic visit Anderlecht in 2 Wednesdays’ time in the 2nd round of group games, and would hope to leave Belgium with all 3 points in order to keep their chances of at least sealing passage to the Europa League alive.
While the Hoops remain far behind the likes of PSG, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Barcelona, Rodgers would still hope to make an impression with his side this term on the continent.
