Celtic are right to be deeply concerned at the latest body of thought which has emerged from Europe this week.

Bayern Munich chief Karl-Heinz Rummenigge’s proposals for the Champions League becoming a 20-team tournament from season 2018-19 and consisting only of clubs from Germany, Spain, England, Italy and France would be an absolute disaster for Scottish football.

As we have seen before, it is a case of the richest clubs in the game looking to not only get richer but to preserve the power and stranglehold they have on European football.

And before anybody is in a rush to point it out, I get the irony that Celtic and the chat that involved their ambitions to moving to the Premiership or taking part in some sort of Atlantic League would effectively be the same kind of disaster for the rest of the Scottish league.

I honestly cannot imagine that it will happen.

Peter Lawwell sits on the executive board of the European Clubs Association and he will do everything he can to fight the corner of Celtic and preserve the status that the club has.

When you consider that Celtic were the first ever club to win the European Cup and when you consider the long association that the club have had with the competition, it would be absurd to think that the door would close on any further involvement.

But although we are all quick to talk about finances and what being involved in the group stage of the modern Uefa Champions League brings, to me that is actually secondary.

The main aspect of being a part of the competition is because of the prestige involved at that level of the game and what it means to the everyone connected to the club – players, officials, fans.

It was only a few years back that Celtic beat Barcelona at Celtic Park in the competition and nights like that are what make the club. It was an amazing night as Celtic celebrated its 125th anniversary and the atmosphere within the ground that night was phenomenal.

To threaten a scenario where nights like that are simply no longer possible would, before anything else, be desperately sad.

Celtic cannot compete with the top level clubs because of the obvious financial disparities but on a one-off game – as we have seen so often in football – anything can happen. To rob players and fans of that chance would be wrong.

I don’t think it will materialise but I do think that what we will see is the bigger clubs taking more control of the running of the competition.

It is up to Celtic to use whatever limited power they have to resist as much as they can.

But for the here and now it is vital that they start laying the foundations now for this summer’s assault on the qualifiers for the competition.

It is no exaggeration to say that these are the games which shape the entire season and it is a big part of why it has been such a tough campaign for Ronny Deila this term.

The lack of involvement at that level of European football is difficult to get over and although we all go on about the timing of these games, the fact is we know when they are coming and you just need to get on with it.

The remaining months of the season now is where you turn one eye to the qualifiers and while there has to be a focus on ensuring that the league is won comfortably, I think events this week have shown that retaining the Championship will be well within Celtic’s reach.

I am reluctant to be overly critical of Aberdeen because I think they have had a good season but it does seem to be that when the pressure is on and they need to win games that they falter.

Had Celtic lost to Ross County last Saturday there would have been one almighty clamour about the result, you can bet your bottom dollar on that. I didn’t hear too much in the wake of Aberdeen’s defeat to Inverness on Monday night and that tells you about the difference in perception between the two teams.

Celtic need to get on with the business in hand and look towards getting a consistent run of form going.

There are three months of the season still to play and what they need to look to do now is lay the foundations of what they trust will be a side that can take them into the group stages of the Champions League.

Given the issues that are surrounding their future involvement in the competition, they need to strive to make the best of the chances that they have just now.