Martin O’Neill hails Celtic’s 14-year Champions League first “huge” for Ange Postecoglou

It is 20 years since Celtic’s hopes of Champions League group stage football were stymied by FC Basel in the qualifiers.

Then manager Martin O’Neill will need no reminding of that. Equally so for the fact it is 21 years since the Irishman presided over an unforgettable ousting of Ajax to earn Celtic a place at club football’s top table for the first time. The Irishman still gets the chills at those hazardous assignments, which his European results helped him avoid before competing in the Champions League group stages in his final season, 2004-05. His legacy - a UEFA Cup final appearance in 2003, Celtic’s last post-Christmas knock-out European tie win the following year - allowed successor Gordon Strachan to benefit owing to his championship winning side gaining direct entry to the group stages in 2008.

Incredibly, the upshot of Celtic banking the same reward for top flight success last season is that Ange Postecoglou will become the first Celtic manager in the 14 years since to sidestep Champions League qualifiers. O’Neill believes the importance of that leap cannot be over-estimated - both for the attractiveness of the club to prospective signings and the training block the club will undertake before embarking on the defence of their cinch Premiership crown at the end of July.

“Is it a big selling point? Absolutely,” said O’Neill. “The club – and the same goes for Rangers – is the star and is its own selling point. But going straight into the Champions League is another story. If I’m plying my trade in the Dutch league, for example, I’m in a strong competition. But if a change to Celtic means going straight in the Champions League, that would be something to really think about. That’s where you boost your own image if