Celtic’s hard-fought 1-1 draw with Club Brugge last night in the UEFA Champions League can be seen as positive in more ways than one.
The Hoops earned a valuable league phase point in their quest to make the top 24, and manager Brendan Rodgers thinks his side remains well on track to do so.
As well as contributing towards knockout-stage qualification, last night’s result gave the Celts a welcomed financial bonus.
Draws in the league phase of European football’s premier club competition earn clubs €700,000, roughly equivalent to £583,100.
With over half a million pounds added to the pot last night, Celtic’s performance-based bonuses alone for their Champions League results this season now totals approximately £4.6m. To put such a figure into perspective, in their two campaigns before this one, the Bhoys earned just around £3.8m combined for their results.
A corner has clearly been turned in Europe this season. When Rodgers returned to the club, he wanted to make Celtic competitive on the continent again, and he has more than kept his promise.
There is still work to be done before fans start dreaming of a last-16 play-off, but the Scottish Premiership champions are in a healthy position with three league phase matches remaining.
Next up in Europe, Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb lie in wait.
