Celtic’s Curse of the Champions League has to end. Let it be now.

There comes a moment when a record becomes more than just a record. It becomes a curse, one of those horrible little numbers that follows you around, whispers in your ear and waits for the next opportunity to remind you of everything that went wrong before.

And Celtic have got one of those numbers hanging over them in Champions League qualifying. Five.

The last five times Celtic have had to qualify for the Champions League, we have failed to reach the main competition. The latest heartbreak came against Kairat Almaty last season, when Celtic drew both matches 0-0 before losing 3-2 on penalties in Kazakhstan. It was one of those horrible nights when football feels deliberately cruel.

And I am looking at that number and thinking one thing: enough.

At some point Celtic have to turn around and say no more. Records like this are not immortal. They are there to be broken, and I genuinely believe this could be the moment.

The sequence started in 2018/19 against AEK Athens. Celtic drew 1-1 at home before losing 2-1 in Greece, going out 3-2 on aggregate.

Then came CFR Cluj in 2019/20, and that one still makes me sigh. Celtic had drawn 1-1 in Romania and brought the tie back to Glasgow in a perfectly good position, only to lose an extraordinary second leg 4-3 at Celtic Park and go out 5-4 on aggregate.

Then came Ferencváros in 2020/21. Because of the strange circumstances around that season, the second qualifying round was played as a single match. Celtic had home advantage and still lost 2-1.

Midtjylland followed in 2021/22. Celtic drew 1-1 in Glasgow, went to Denmark and eventually lost 2-1 after extra time, going out 3-2 on aggregate.

After that there were seasons when Celtic entered the Champions League directly and did not have to go through qualifying at all. Then, last summer, qualifying returned. And so did the pain. Kairat Almaty. Two goalless matches. Penalties. Out.

Five qualifying campaigns. Five failures to reach the main tournament.

That is the curse.

And that is precisely why LASK feels so important.

Here we are again. Celtic Park. Champions League play-off football. LASK, the Austrian champions, standing between Celtic and the league phase.

The first leg is at Paradise tonight, with the return to follow in Austria, and I don’t want to hear about curses anymore. I don’t want to hear about Kairat, Midtjylland, Ferencváros, Cluj or AEK Athens. Those ghosts can stay where they belong: in the past.

Because this is a different Celtic, and most importantly for me, this is a Celtic with Martin O’Neill standing on the touchline. That matters enormously. If there is one thing Martin O’Neill understands, it is European football. This is a man who knows what Champions League nights feel like. He knows the pressure, the atmosphere and the way a European tie can change completely in a matter of seconds.

He knows that you do not win these matches simply because you are Celtic, because you have the bigger stadium or because you have more supporters. You have to manage them. You have to understand when the danger is coming, when to slow things down, when to raise the tempo and when to attack.

That is where my Ginger Witch instincts start twitching, because I look at Martin O’Neill and think: this is exactly the kind of night he was made for.

I want Celtic to walk onto that pitch without fear. I want those players to look at LASK and think, you’re in our house. I want Paradise bouncing. I want that European roar. And I want Celtic to play with the hunger we have started seeing domestically.

Look at what happened against Dundee United. Four goals, with Camilo Durán, Sebastian Tounekti, Benjamin Nygren and Auston Trusty all finding the net. It was another sign that this team is beginning to develop attacking options and goals from different areas.

And yes, Celtic conceded chances. There are still things to tidy up, and I am not suddenly pretending everything is perfect because we scored four goals. But there is something different happening.

There is movement. There is attacking intent. There is competition for places, and there are new players beginning to make an impact.

Kasper Høgh has already shown what happens when Celtic finally have a striker who looks absolutely determined to put the ball in the net. Durán has shown flashes of the unpredictability this team needs. Mika Baur has arrived. Haissem Hassan has arrived.

And suddenly I am looking at this Celtic squad and thinking one dangerous little word: maybe. Maybe this is the team that finally tears up that horrible European script.

And Martin O’Neill is the biggest piece of the puzzle for me.

This isn’t simply about tactics. It is about mentality. Martin has lived through these nights before. He knows Celtic Park when it is shaking. He knows what Celtic supporters expect, and he knows that European football is so often decided by moments rather than some grand tactical masterpiece.

A corner, a counterattack, a save, a decision, a goal, a mistake. Sometimes that is all it takes.

That is why I trust his experience.

I don’t need Celtic to be perfect against LASK. I need Celtic to be clever. I need them to be ruthless when the opportunity comes. I need them to understand that if LASK give us an inch, we take the entire bloody road.

And I need Martin O’Neill to put that belief into them.

Because this isn’t just another couple of European matches. It is an opportunity to change the entire feeling around Celtic and Champions League qualifying. It is a chance to take that horrible sequence and throw it straight into the Celtic Park furnace.

And this is where my Ginger Witch spell comes in. I am putting every one of those previous disappointments into a little imaginary Celtic cauldron. Kairat, Midtjylland, Ferencváros, Cluj, AEK; every missed opportunity, every nervous European night and every moment when Celtic seemed to forget who they were.

Into the cauldron with the bloody lot of them.

And now I’m stirring. Because spells are not much use unless you believe in them, and I believe. I believe Celtic can beat LASK. I believe Celtic can qualify. I believe this team has more about it than some of the sides we have taken into Champions League qualifiers over the last few years. And I believe Martin O’Neill could be exactly the man to make the difference.

He has already been through enough with this club since coming back. He steadied the ship, restored belief and delivered the league title. Now he has another job, and this one is European.

I cannot think of a better stage for him.

Imagine it. Celtic beat LASK, Celtic go through and Celtic are back in the Champions League league phase. Suddenly that horrible qualifying record no longer feels like some permanent curse hanging over us. It becomes the thing Celtic finally broke.

That is what I want. I don’t want another European what if. I don’t want another night spent saying we should have done this or if only we’d scored that goal.

I want Celtic to take this opportunity by the throat. I want Martin O’Neill to lead them through, and I want the players to understand something very simple. You are not carrying the failures of the Celtic teams which came before you. You are carrying the shirt.

That is different. So Celtic, my beloved champions, this is your moment. The ghosts are waiting, the record is waiting and LASK are waiting. And somewhere inside my Ginger Witch cauldron, I am already stirring the spell.

Break it, Celtic. Break the bloody curse. Beat LASK, get into that Champions League and make sure that five remains the number we remember.

Because five is enough. Five is far too many.

So, the most beautiful thing Celtic could do tonight is end it in the first leg.

Make sure there is never a sixth.

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