BEING held to a 1-1 draw by Shakhtar Donetsk at Parkhead last Wednesday night might have ended Celtic’s hopes of reaching the Europa League preliminary knockout round.
And their final Champions League group stage match against holders Real Madrid in the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium tomorrow evening may now be meaningless as a result.
Yet, James Forrest does not, like so many, view the encounter with Carlo Ancelotti’s superstars as the end of a hugely frustrating continental campaign that promised so much but, ultimately, failed to deliver.
No, the winger firmly believes it is the beginning of an exciting new era in Europe for Celtic.
He is adamant the Glasgow club have, despite of the disappointments they have suffered in the past couple of months, much to look forward to on foreign fields in the future.
The evergreen 31-year-old is vastly experienced at this level – he will make his 111th appearance here in Spain – and has enjoyed many successes and a few lows since making his bow against Braga in Portugal way back in 2010.
So he is well placed to assess the Scottish champions’ showings against Donetsk, RB Leipzig and Real under their Greek-Australian manager Ange Postecoglou this term.
The Scotland internationalist feels they can learn lessons from their mistakes, build on their displays and show their ambitious attacking gameplan can be effective next time around.
Forrest and his team mates, who restored their four point lead over Rangers at the top of the cinch Premiership on Sunday when they beat Livingston 3-0 at Almondvale, are certainly determined to return to the Champions League in the 2023/24 campaign.
“The performances in these games have definitely shown that it is the start of something special,” he said. “It’s definitely been positive, even though we haven’t managed to win a game.
“The club was desperate to be back here and all of the boys will have enjoyed this campaign. The boys maybe feel as though they are more eager to get back here again to put some results right.
“The manager wants everybody to be positive, to be attacking, and he believes that this is where we should be. You can hear that the fans are buzzing off that, and the players have a good feeling about it as well.
“There are loads of boys that haven’t played in the Champions League before, and they have loved every game we’ve played in, both home and away.
“They’ve seen the way the fans have been as well, and for anyone, no matter what age you are, you always want that. You want to continue to be a part of that for as long as you can.”
Forrest helped Celtic to reach the knockout rounds of the Champions League back in 2012 and played in the last 16 double header with Juventus so he knows what is required to compete with the very best in Europe.
He is adamant that Postecoglou’s tactics will, even though the Scottish champions have only managed to draw with Donetsk twice, work going forward if they are more ruthless in the final third.
“I have said this to some of the boys who have played in the last couple of games,” he said. “If you look at the amount of chances we have created, we’ve been in every game home and away.
“We’ve had loads of chances, and that all comes from the manager. Everyone is buying into the way he wants to play, real attacking football, and the more we put in performances like that then the results will come.
“I think it’s exciting, every player wants to play the way the manager wants to play, and I think that will continue as well.”
Forrest added: “The manager looks at every game and he’s been happy with the performances. Obviously some of it is results based and we don’t go through, we’re not in Europe anymore, but I think there are a lot of positives.
“Most of the boys haven’t played in the Champions League before, sometimes you can dominate games and teams can hit you on the counter.
“So, I think it’s great experience for everyone, and I don’t even think it has just been about the experience. The boys have shown they can compete at this level.
“I think it’s just things like not taking our chances at certain times and the opposition have been clinical. At certain times of the game they can sometimes kill the game as well.
“Loads of the players have played international football as well, so they know that can sometimes happen when you are up against top quality players. They only need one chance in the game and they can score.
“So, I think everyone knows that the standard in the Champions League is so, so high, and that’s where we want to be.”
Forrest, who put pen to paper on a new three year deal back in May, is certainly keen to get back to the Champions League again and confident he has much to offer against the likes of Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City before he hangs up his boots and retires.
“It’s massive,” he said. “Every top European player wants to play in it. There is nothing better. Hopefully I can. I signed the deal at the end of last season and I hope to be here for as long as I can.
“The performances this season have been really good but it’s maybe just been a bit unlucky that we haven’t managed to get the results and that win in the Champions League that the players and the fans deserve. But the hunger is still there, you still want to be a part of these nights.”
