O'Neill: Celtic should aspire to win the Champions League

Martin O'Neill believes Celtic should "aspire" to win the Champions League ahead of their play-off round qualifier against Austrian champions LASK. <p>The 74-year-old hailed the Lisbon Lions - who delivered the club's greatest ever achievement when they lifted the European Cup in 1967 - for "setting the bar" and wants his side to replicate their success despite the financial challenges of modern football.</p><p>The Celtic manager also expressed his "disappointment" over losing influential midfielder Arne Engels to West Ham United just days before Wednesday's crucial \u00a340m showdown.</p><ul><li><strong><a href="https://www.skysports.com/watch/football-on-sky/competitions/scottish-premiership">Scottish Premiership games coming up live on Sky Sports</a></strong></li><li><strong><a href="https://qrcode.skysports.com/skysports/WatchSPApp" target="_blank">Got Sky? Watch now on the Sky Sports app</a>\u202f\ud83d\udcf1\u202f </strong></li><li><strong><a href="https://www.nowtv.com/plans/new/sports?DCMP=ilc_skysports_Scotland_bloglink" target="_blank">Not got Sky? Get instant access with no contract</a>\u202f<a href="http://ggggg/" target="_blank">\ud83d\udcfa</a></strong></li></ul><p>After being knocked out of Europe's premier competition at this stage by Kazakh side Kairat Almaty last year, the champions of Scotland return with fresh faces and a point to prove.</p><h3>O'Neill: We should be aiming to win the Champions League</h3><p>When the Estadio Metropolitano stages the 2027 final in Madrid next June, 60 years will have passed since legendary captain Billy McNeil got his hands on the trophy - the iconic image of which is cast in bronze outside Celtic Park.</p><p>Football has changed in the intervening six decades with Scottish sides no longer able to compete with the financial might of elite clubs in England, Spain, Germany, France or Italy.</p><p>However, O'Neill - who won the European Cup twice as a player with Nottingham Forest - has set his players the improbable task of emulating the club's most famous heroes:</p><widget id="6"></widget><p>"I've said all along, I think that the bar was set down here way back in 1967," he said at his pre-match news conference.</p><p>"From then on, I believe that Celtic should be aspiring to that. We may never, ever, ever get there and obviously with the way that the financial market has moved in football, it's getting more and more difficult for maybe a team from Scotland.</p><p>"But that aside, you should still be aspiring to it and that's what we want to try and do. We may never get there but this is the bar that's been set down, and the football club have won the European Cup or the Champions League, whatever it's called.</p><p>"Really, that's what we should be trying to do, and we'll make an all-out effort to try and make it."</p><h3>How much is Champions League qualification worth?</h3><p>While prestige and platform may motivate players and managers, money keeps boardrooms happy.</p><p>Celtic banked more than \u00a340m from their last participation in the Champions League in 2024/25, where they were beaten by Bayern Munich in the first knockout round.</p> <widget id="7"></widget><p>If O'Neill's side are able to successfully navigate their play-off with LASK this year, they will receive around \u00a316m in automatic prize money - even if they lose all eight league phase matches.</p><p>Thereafter, every draw in the competition is worth \u00a3600k and every win is worth \u00a31.8m. There are also financial rewards for every place in the final league phase table as well as for every round of the knockout stages.</p><p>In addition, according to Football Meets Data, Celtic are due to receive between \u00a314.4m and \u00a316.6m from Uefa's complicated 'value pillar' financial distribution model - which ranks participating clubs based on coefficient points and TV market ratings. Therefore, the final figure could change depending on which teams progress to the league phase.</p><p>Furthermore, based on previous gate receipts and ticket prices, four sold out home Champions League fixtures at Celtic Park could yield a further \u00a310m in gross ticket sales.</p><p>Thus, before kicking a ball, Champions League qualification could be worth an estimated \u00a340m.</p><h3>Killing the Kairat derailer</h3><p>Twelve months ago, a fifth consecutive exit in Champions League qualifying threatened to derail Celtic's season.</p><p>The result, paired with a perceived lack of activity in the transfer window, prompted a series of fan protests aimed at the club's board which punctuated a tumultuous campaign at Celtic Park.</p><p>The hierarchy were accused of 'neglecting' the team, 'sleeping at the wheel', and 'gambling' Champions League qualification via official supporters' group statements and ultras' group banners.</p><p>However, this summer, the club have reinvested significant funds in the playing squad; more than \u00a330m has been spent on the acquisitions of Kasper Hogh, Camilo Duran, Hasseim Hassan and Mika Baur.</p> <widget id="8"></widget><p>And despite losing key contributors such as Engels, Daizen Maeda, Kasper Schmeichel, Kelechi Iheanacho and Marcelo Saracchi, manager O'Neill feels his side are well-equipped to deal with LASK:</p><p>"I think that the players who are still here at the football club, they may well remember it, they may well think that they've got something to try and achieve this time," he added.</p><p>"But overall, I think we're just trying to look forward to the games, trying to get a result in the matches and trying to get through.</p><p>"I like the players that we've signed. I think I said last weekend that ideally it would be nice if, for instance, [Hasseim] Hassan had a little bit more football played.</p><p>"That's the nature of the game. We've got him in now and over the course of the season, whether it's in the Champions League or whether it's in the Europa League, it's up to the players now as much as anything else.</p><p>"I think t...