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Celtic have played five matches in Europe this season, winning one and losing four. Their solitary victory came in the first-leg of their Champions League play-off against LASK, which ended up counting for nothing following their spectacular collapse in the second leg.
In the Europa League, they have lost away to Benfica and at home to both Ferencvaros and Celta Vigo, leading to further criticism of the club’s hierarchy and even a fan boycott.
As laid bare by Football Meets Data, Celtic have contributed a share of just 8.7 per cent of Scotland’s coefficient points so far this season.
This is because points are won and lost purely by winning two-legged ties or avoiding defeats in one-off League Phase matches, which all other Scottish clubs have achieved.
Celtic’s next opponents will be Besiktas as they search for their first points on the board in the Europa League campaign. Speaking after last week’s defeat in Lisbon, Martin O’Neill pondered whether continental football had become a “step too far” for his side.
He said: “It’s easy for me to say so, but if we can get up and running, there’s still a chance. I thought the other night would have been the chance to do it, particularly after Sunday.
“It didn’t happen, but we’re still not out of it in terms of the points we can gain. But each game that passes when we don’t get on the scoreboard it becomes more difficult.
“We are up against reasonable opposition. I thought the other night was the night to get off the mark. Is Europe a step too far for us? I’m hoping not. It might be right at the end of it all but I don’t think so.
“You want to compete here. I’m not saying it should be an absolute joy but it should be a spur to play in these games against really decent opposition.
“I know it’s easy for me to say, but Celtic will be back. You can definitely learn a lot from the European games. Like last season against Midtjylland, we were physically blown away.
“But we fought back and got some good results. That’s what we want to try to do again. I get it’s three games without a point, though.”