WHENEVER Celtic’s recent European record is discussed it’s important in terms of perspective to recall the wilderness years of not so long ago.

In 1980, Real Madrid were defeated 2-0 at Celtic Park in the European Cup quarter-final, an outrageously fantastic result by a team who were hardly one of the all-time classics in the club’s history.

The Spaniards, as they tend to do, took care of business in the second-leg two weeks later and while that was a major disappointment, the supporters at the time recognised the significance of such an achievement and hoped it would not be too long before their team got another crack at such a high level.

It would be 23 years before Celtic once again played in Europe after Christmas, it felt like 230, the season Martin O’Neill led the march to Seville.

Only once since then could it be said they got close to what was now called a Champions League quarter-final when, in 2007, they lost in the last 16 to AC Milan who needed extra-time and a complaint referee – he somehow missed two penalties for the Scots in the San Siro - to win the two-legged tie 1-0.

So Celtic doing well, and by that I mean reaching the knock-out stages in either European competition, is a relatively new and rare thing, if we view the Jock Stein days as another era entirely, and as we all know the financial factor has not and will not make success any easier to attain.

O'Neill, for example, never got out of the Champions League group stages and he had Henrik Larsson!

Most supporters accept where the club is and yet it is difficult for them to shrug off any disappointment and not just in terms of losing to Malmo, but also if Celtic fail to beat Fenerbahce on Thursday evening, a team full of talent but one that is hardly frightening the horses.

Celtic should beat a team such as Malmo and did not. But they have no right to beat one of the giants of Turkish football whose wage bill dwarves that of their hosts – and yet they really must beat them. There is no alternative. Why? We will get to that in a moment.

Before we move on, let’s take a quick look at Arsenal.

It does seem they won't reach the last 16 of the Champions League after two defeats and they are not going to win their own domestic title. The biggest club in the biggest city in Europe are weeks away from their season being, to all intents and purposes, over.

Celtic will in the league – sorry, Aberdeen fans – and everyone deep down knows this. So to keep the season going, as it were, they have to still be in the Europa League in the New Year otherwise, and take this from me, the whole campaign will feel damper than a squib’s wet bits.

This is the pressure Ronny Deila lives with. He is welcome to it.

If Deila’s team can win, it most likely means the Turks are done in Group A and qualification would be between Celtic, Ajax, who are yet to to come to Glasgow, and Molde who Celtic have still to face and who just might have had their moment in the sun with that 3-1 win a fortnight ago in Istanbul.

Four points from the first two games gives Celtic an excellent chance to finish in the top two. This would be huge for the club and, remember, as playing in the latter stages of either European competition is some way from being the norm, for Deila this would represent real progress and something to celebrate.

Celtic probably don’t belong in the Champions League at this moment in time, however, there is no real reason why they can’t enjoy tangible success in, shall we say, Europe’s second division.

And by success I mean beating Fenerbahce, building on what would be a good start and giving the supporters something to really look forward to in the second half of a predictable season, such as a tie against the likes of Inter Milan which last season proved to be a great occasion.

This is life in the East End of Glasgow for the manager right now. He wins the league and it’s no big deal, don’t win the Treble and it’s failure, while the same goes for not enjoying a prolonged run in Europe, something O'Neill, Gordon Strachan and Neil Lennon all fell short of on more than one occasion.

No wonder Deila has aged.

To end on a positive note, Celtic proved in Amsterdam that they belong at this level and with a full-ish Celtic Park, you would make them favourites for this fixture.

If ten out of the eleven players perform as they can, they will win on Thursday and the season would take a significant move in a positive direction.