Martin O’Neill Prepares Celtic for Champions League Challenge

Martin O’Neill admits he wanted Engels to stay for Celtic’s Champions League play-off. The midfielder refused, wary of an injury that could wreck his next move. O’Neill gets it.

“He didn’t want to play in the matches in case he got injured,” the Celtic manager explained, accepting the decision as understandable rather than disloyal.

It leaves Celtic light in midfield on the eve of a huge European tie, and O’Neill is still scrambling for a replacement.

“We’re still in the process of trying to do that,” he said. “We haven’t been able to get someone in, in time, to do that. But there are a number of players that we’re looking at and hopefully we will by the end of the transfer window.”

Prestige over pay-day

For O’Neill, the lure of the Champions League has never been about the balance sheet. The stage matters more than the prize money.

The financial boost still counts, though. He knows a group-stage place would change what Celtic can do in the market, allowing the club to bring in more quality before the league phase begins.

That context frames the uncertainty around Reo Hatate. O’Neill confirmed there has been interest in the midfielder.

“But I don’t think there’s been anything definitive,” he said. “That may well happen in the next week.”

If Hatate stays, there will be no sulking tolerated, but no issue either. O’Neill would welcome a player determined to claw his way back to the level he once reached.

He described the Japanese playmaker as “one of best midfielders in Scotland” two seasons ago and insists he would be happy to see him stay and fight for that standard again.

LASK test looms large

Before any transfer drama plays out, Celtic must deal with Austrian champions LASK. O’Neill has done his homework and does not sugar-coat the size of the task.

He calls them “a very fine side” and expects the tie to be “very, very difficult” for Celtic.

“We’ve watched them now on numerous occasions. We’ve had people watching them live,” he said. “They are very fast up front as well, lots of good players on the side. And they’re very, very strong. Physically strong as well.”

A commanding first-leg result at home would be “lovely”, as he put it, but he refuses to turn it into a do-or-die scenario. If Celtic do not take a lead to Austria, the tie will not be written off.

What he does insist on is readiness. “It’s up to the players now as much as anything else,” O’Neill said. “I think the quality that we brought in will bear fruit during the course of the season.”

O’Neill’s European return

At 74, O’Neill finds himself back where he once made his name: on the edge of a Champions League night, carrying the weight of Celtic expectation.

He did not see this coming.

“I didn’t think last September or October I’d be sitting here thinking about a Champions League game,” he admitted. “If I was, I’d certainly be watching it on TV.”

Instead, he is in the dugout again, embracing the scale of the task.

“There are challenges in this Champions League,” he said. “You could get nothing else but excited about it, which is fantastic, especially at my age.”

Old rivalry on the horizon

Beyond Europe, the domestic calendar has already thrown up a familiar storm. Celtic have been drawn away to Rangers in the League Cup quarter-finals.

O’Neill will not let it distract him from LASK, but he does not downplay the occasion either.

“I’m looking forward to it when it comes to it,” he said. “Naturally, the concentration is totally in these two games. But it is what it is. We’re drawn away from home again.”

For now, his focus is fixed on LASK, on a patched-up midfield, and on a shot at the Champions League that he thought he would only ever watch from his living room.