IT has taken three long years for Celtic to secure a place in the group stages of the Champions League once again and there have been many painful moments and bitter disappointments along the way.
But it now looks like, after being drawn to face Barcelona, Manchester City and Borussia Monchengladbach in Group C last night, gaining entry to Europe’s premier club competition may well have been the easy part.
Brendan Rodgers stated that qualifying for the last 16 would be the Parkhead club's objective after a 5-4 aggregate victory over Hapoel Be'er Sheva in the play-off was completed in Israel on Tuesday evening.
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However, emulating the achievements of his predecessors Gordon Strachan, who twice achieved the feat, and Neil Lennon and progressing to the knockout rounds would seem a tall order for Rodgers after developments in Monaco yesterday.
Even with the windfall which Celtic will bank - they will earn between £25 million and £30 million from their involvement - they are operating in an altogether different financial market from both Barca and City.
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The Spaniards have, despite the presence of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez at the Nou Camp, spent just under €100 million on new recruits, including Andre Gomez and Samuel Umtiti, during the summer.
New City manager Pep Guardiola, meanwhile, has so far splashed out nearly £150 million on players, Ilkay Gundogan, Leroy Sane and John Stones among them, since arriving at the Etihad Stadium.
The capture of Moussa Dembele for £500,000, Kolo Toure on a free, Scott Sinclair for £3.5 million and Dorus de Vries for an undisclosed fee since Rodgers was appointed have all been welcomed by Celtic supporters.
But will those new acquisitions, and the other members of the squad they joined, be able to overcome such stellar adversaries and go through? It is asking a great deal.
Celtic have certainly recorded some outstanding results - including against Barcelona, who they have now been drawn to face six times in 13 years in Europe - in the Champions League in the past.
They drew with the Catalan giants away in the group stages of the tournament in the 2004/05 season and famously beat them 2-1 at home in the 2012/13 campaign. The scalps of AC Milan, Manchester United and Juventus have also been claimed.
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But avoiding heavy and humiliating defeats against Barcelona and Manchester City, clubs with far larger transfer budgets who will be attempting to win the tournament, would appear to be an achievement of sorts at this stage.
Finishing third in their section and dropping into the last 32 of the Europa League would be a perfectly satisfactory outcome from their involvement alongside the cream of the continent given the disparity in the spending power.
Even getting the better of Monchengladbach, who, along with City, they have never faced in a competitive fixture in their 128 year history, will be far from straightforward.
André Schubert's team finished fourth in the Bundesliga last season to qualify for the Champions League for the second year running.
Last term Monchengladbach finished bottom of Group D and were beaten by City, who went on to reach the semi-finals, both home and away. Still, the Germans drew with Juventus twice and defeated Sevilla.
The meeting with Barcelona at Celtic Park is guaranteed to be a 60,000 sell-out - as the games against City and Monchengladbach will also be - despite the number of occasions they have met in recent years.
Still, it is a shame that opponents who they have squared up to regularly will once again be the top seeds in their group. A meeting with Bayern Munich, Real Madrid or Chelsea would certainly have been refreshing.
Celtic were the last club to be drawn at a ceremony attended by many of Europe's top players, including Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo, team mates at defending champions Real, and stars of the past.
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By the time Roberto Carlos, the former Real and Brazil left back, pulled out their name it was known who they would come up against.
Rodgers and his players will be determined not to be last when their final Group D match is played at the beginning of December.
This season will mark the 50th anniversary of Celtic's historic European Cup triumph over Inter Milan in the Estadio Nacional in 1967. Performing well in the Champions League would be a fitting tribute to the Lisbon Lions.
The surviving members of Jock Stein's legendary side and the rest of the Celtic supporters will savour every minute of their involvement in the competition once again. The reaction when Zadoc the Priest is played over the public address system will be raucous.
The response to the draw last night on social media websites was bordering on the ecstatic despite the realisation about the enormity of the challenge they face.
Having Patrick Roberts, the £12 million winger who is on loan from City until the end of the season, available to play in the two games against Guardiola's side will be welcomed by Rodgers and will increase his side's chances of success.
But Celtic won't threaten to get anywhere near to the final at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on June 3. The days when they can challenge for silverware in the Champions League are long gone. Getting out of their group is the most they can hope for and that is far from a given.
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