Champions v Europa Leagues – The difference in quality is enormous

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The Celtic Star

·9 March 2025

Champions v Europa Leagues – The difference in quality is enormous

The difference in quality between the Champions League and the Europa League is enormous…

Nicolas Kuhn scores during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Knockout Play-off second leg match between FC Bayern München and Celtic FC at Allianz Arena on February 18, 2025 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)

I wrote an article a few days ago on The Celtic Star relating to Celtic’s performance in the Champions League this season and the fact that our bitterest rivals continue to delude themselves that it wasn’t a impressive campaign, one that proves we are in the ascendency when it comes to our status in the European game.

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St Mirren, Motherwell and Queen’s Park all won at Ibrox

Having been defeated by the likes of St Mirren, Motherwell and Queen’s Park in recent weeks you would think their fans would be remaining humble for a while but of course that is not a characteristic you could associate with our rivals from across the city. They were back out in full superiority once again after they defeated Fenerbahçe 3-1 in Istanbul in the Europa League.

Jefte of theRangers appears dejected at the end of the Scottish Cup match between Rangers FC and Queens Park at Ibrox on February 09, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

After last that performance and result they are once again ‘back’ under super-staunch Barry Ferguson. Let’s just forget about last week’s match against Motherwell at home and move on shall we? Anyway this isn’t an article about them, it’s about the differential between the three UEFA competitions we now see competed for annually.

Historically I was always a huge fan of the Champions League and loved watching it year after year from the group stage to the final and thought it was the best competition in world football. Over recent years I found it had become increasingly stale and I had lost a lot of interest in it out-with our own games.

The Champions League revamp has been brilliant

This season however after the revamp I have thoroughly enjoyed it once again, the bigger ‘league’ stage was fantastic and going into the last round of fixtures most clubs still had a reason to put in their best performance with something still to aim for.

Nicolas Kuhn of Celtic celebrates scoring his team’s second goal during the UEFA Champions League match between Celtic FC and RB Leipzig at Celtic Park on November 05, 2024 (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

I watched plenty of matches and one thing that was obvious was the high standard of football on show. There were a couple of teams who maybe looked a bit outclassed but generally most matches were high quality played between two good teams. It was a joy to watch. I have had no real interest in watching the Europa League or the Europa Conference League but would have obviously kept an eye on the results.

Fenerbahçe were awful

Being an earlier kick off I actually had the chance to sit and watch theRangers match on Thursday and honestly I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I know very little about the current Fenerbahçe team but being one of the big Turkish teams along with Galatasaray you always expect they would be hard to beat at home, as this was usually true years ago when we saw them compete in the Champions League. The fact they had got Jose Mourinho in as manager also led me to believe they would be decent but I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Jose Mourinho of Fenerbahce looks on during the Turkish Super League match between Galatasaray and Fenerbahce at Rams Park Stadium on February 23, 2025 in Istanbul, Turkey. (Photo by Ahmad Mora/Getty Images)

Defensively that was one of the worst performances that I have ever seen. It was actually comical. They were opened up with absolute ease. Honestly if they were playing a Champions League team they would have been absolutely embarrassed. I actually had a thought during the game thinking if this is the standard in the Europa League then if we were ever in it we would have a huge chance of winning it. This however, should be nowhere near our thoughts. Having seen the standard of this competition we should be glad we are absolutely nowhere near it.

Imperative that Celtic qualify for the league stages of the Champions League next season

It is imperative that we qualify for the league stages of the Champions League next season. We have to find a way through the qualifier. Playing a season in that competition would set us back years, and I’m not just talking financially. What players would want to come to our club to participate in this second rate competition? Our players would only regress not being able to battle It out with the best in Europe every couple of weeks. The Europa League is absolutely miles behind UEFA’s elite competition.

UEFA Champions League branded microphones are seen on a desk prior to the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Knockout Play-off second leg match between FC Bayern München and Celtic FC at on February 18, 2025 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images)

We’ve done it all in Europe when we won in Portugal

TheRangers fans I’m sure are basking in their perceived glory after beating Fenerbahçe away. The fact they try to goad Celtic fans by bringing up our failures in progressing in the knockout stages is embarrassing. We would have absolutely no problem progressing in that second rate competition. We are battling it out in the only UEFA competition that really matters, the one that attracts all the eyes and the big money. The one that you can truly use as a barometer on how good your team really is. The one that only Celtic has won for Scotland.

We need to keep it that way.

Conall McGinty