Opta predicts how Celtic will fare in Europa League campaign
Celtic are tipped to go only as far as the Europa League knockout playoff stages as Opta makes its predictions for the 2026-27 campaign.
The Hoops are preparing for life back in Europe’s second-tier competition this season after they failed to beat LASK in the Champions League playoffs last month.
Celtic were in the Europa League in the last campaign, but failed to impress, and they scraped through the league phase before they were eliminated by Stuttgart in the playoff knock-out round.
Now, a similar fate has been predicted for the Hoops as their miserable time in Europe looks set to continue.
The Supercomputer does not have very high hopes for the Old Firm outfit, who have not performed in Europe for years.
They begin their journey in the competition for this campaign next week, when they host Ferencvarosi.
Celtic predicted to narrowly progress through the league phase
Opta’s predictions on 7 September have tipped Celtic to finish 24th in the Europa League’s league phase.
This would see them finish in the final qualifying spot for the playoff knockout phase, with the club’s chances of reaching stage of the competition placed at 49.94 per cent.
However, from here, Opta believes Celtic have little chance of progressing further.
The supercomputer has placed the Hoops’ chances of reaching the round of 16 at 9.63 per cent, and the odds of reaching the quarter-finals at 10.51 per cent.
Their chances of reaching the semi-finals are placed at 3.47 per cent, with a place in the final rated at 1.10 per cent.
Celtic’s odds of lifting the Europa League trophy come the end of the campaign stand at just 0.39 per cent.
Europa League needs to be big priority for Celtic this season
While winning the Scottish Premiership should be Celtic’s main priority this season, the Europa League needs to be next in line.
Despite the Old Firm outfit having little chance of winning the competition, if they could reach even the quarter-finals, it would be a big boost to the club’s reputation as well as Scotland’s coefficient.
On top of this, if they can show the world that Celtic can still compete in Europe and be a threat, it could help them attract players of better quality next summer.
However, it remains to be seen if they are able to achieve this.