Celtic's Champions League road comes to an end tonight when the curtain comes down at the Etihad against Manchester City.

For the Scottish side, it's an appropriate time to look back on the journey that has brought them this far, and consider what needs to be done in the months ahead to get them one step further the next time.

Celtic have come a long way since the summer. If you look back on the last six months the game that stands out was Hapoel Be’er Sheva back in the play-off round.

Without that and without overcoming the Israeli champions they’d not be in the position they are right now. We are talking purely about money here. The financial advantage that Celtic have as a result of their jaunt into the group stage is colossal.

That’s the most important aspect through all of this. It was always going to be a learning curve given the new manager and a devilishly difficult group. It was about as hard as it could have been given the opposition.

In the end, Celtic finishing fourth is no surprise given the seeding.

Looking back on it now, the other pivotal tie was at home v Borussia Monchengladbach, which the Germans won 2-0. Since that night at Celtic Park have not won in the Bundesliga in eight games and are in free fall.

Celtic fans were fairly sure the best team got the points on the night but knowing what we know now they might think that’s the one that got away.

This is spilt milk we are crying over, though. The main object was to get into the Champions League in the first place.

Brendan Rodgers has improved the team domestically and in Europe they are still some way off but that’s a matter for the months ahead. We’ve yet to see a serious squad strengthening exercise go on.

Celtic go into this game against City with an incentive. A win will get them EURO1.5million, a figure not to be sniffed at.

For drawing the game there is EURO500,000 which any other Scottish club would love to have. That’s a player transfer fee.

There’s also the lure of trying to take points from Manchester City. Celtic were clearly fired up on Match Day No.2 in that dramatic 3-3 draw and I’d expect the same from them again here.

To my mind the preparation for the next Champions League qualifying campaign begins almost straight away.

That was the one worry Celtic fans had. Almost every new manager has struggled on the European front, including Ronny Deila, Neil Lennon and Gordon Strachan. The fact Rodgers did it gives him a leg up and now he genuinely has a few months to plan and build to make sure Celtic are there next time.

It doesn’t just happen and it’s not easy. The Champions path is not a straightforward one.

The question is now how are all these riches used as part of next season? A sizeable chunk will have to be used.

In terms of City, Pep Guardiola always believes. There’s no reason why they can’t do something in this tournament given that their progression into the last 16 is already secured as runners up.

Having said that, I don’t think they are winning material…yet. I’m certainly a big fan of Guardiola given what he achieved at Barca and Bayern Munich but they are still some way off the best teams in the competition.

It’s a bit of a nothing game for them as well so really it’s a little bit like a glorified friendly for them.

There will be a factor of playing against a Scottish team that gave them a bit of a black eye in Glasgow.

Celtic have nothing to lose, something that you can’t say for City.