Celtic’s European decline laid bare as former striker questions squad quality

Former Celtic striker John Hartson believes expectations surrounding the club’s Europa League campaign have dropped significantly ahead of Thursday night’s clash against Celta Vigo.

Martin O’Neill’s side have endured a disappointing start to their European campaign, suffering successive defeats against Ferencvaros and Benfica.

With Celtic desperately needing points to keep their qualification hopes alive, Hartson has questioned whether the current squad possesses the quality required to compete consistently on the European stage.

Speaking to the Scottish Sun, the former Hoops favourite said: “It’s a big game. Losing the first home game to Ferencvaros wasn’t great, and we’ve been thumped by Benfica. Celta Vigo will be tough opposition again.

“If we’re being honest about it, Celtic maybe aren’t as good a side as they have been in the last two or three years. They’re certainly not as free-flowing as a team.

“They did exceptionally well to win their last seven games to win the league last season, but you don’t want to be putting the fans through that every year.

“But it’s definitely getting harder and harder in Europe. Back in my day, we had a strong squad to be able to cope with the top teams. Look right through our squad, and it had internationals in every position.

“But at this moment in time Celtic just aren’t looked at as a brilliant European side. I do think they’re capable of winning domestically. But in the Europa League, the expectation isn’t very high.

“There will be a full house on Thursday night and there will be a wonderful atmosphere, like there always is. I just think the general feeling is that they’re not as strong as they have been.

“It’s turning out to be a really hard European campaign, but that’s not to say the team can’t produce a big performance. I hope they can get a result this week, which gets it going for them in Europe this season.”