Celtic's Electric Champions League Performance: Two Years On

Celtic dismantled RB Leipzig in the Champions League to win 3-1 on November 5 2024. Two years on, and the fireworks have been replaced with frailty.

The current Celtic squad are preparing to face Besiktas in matchday four of this season's Europa League. Martin O'Neill's side face the very realistic prospect of being eliminated should they fail to get results in their next five fixtures in the competition.

That night against RB Leipzig saw the Hoops come roaring back from a goal down to beat the German side 3-1. Nicolas Kühn was the star man, scoring two against his former side, while Reo Hatate added a third 18 minutes from full time to ensure another memorable European night was secured.

The full-time summary was a perfect description of the performance those players put in. On TNT Sports, commentator Rory Hamilton deemed it "a sensational performance, one of the best in Celtic's modern European history.

default A performance that matched this sparkling atmosphere." It was the determination and refusal to let their heads drop that was to be admired. It was the first time in 19 years that Celtic had won three Champions League home games in a row.

That side would go on to qualify for the Play-Off round, where they were narrowly beaten by Bayern Munich. The drop-off has been alarming since.

The current side lost their opening three games in a European competition proper for the first time in 23 campaigns. Of the 16 players who featured that night under Brendan Rodgers, six remain at the club.

Callum McGregor, Auston Trusty, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Alistair Johnston started, with Yang and Scales as second-half substitutes. The likes of Kühn and Kyogo left soon after, and weren't exactly replaced until as late as this summer window.

The managed decline is there for all to see.