Brendan Rodgers is determined to drive Celtic forward in Europe despite the obvious financial disparity.
In two seasons in the Champions League the hoops have been drawn alongside Paris Saint Germain, Manchester City, Barcelona and Bayern Munich with some brutal results.
The Europa League has offered a less severe test but Zenit St Petersburg and Valencia also operate on budgets that Celtic can’t get close to.
Against Valencia Rodgers was without Kieran Tierney, Tom Rogic and Filip Benkovic from his first choice XI with the depth of his squad unable to make up for that loss of quality.
Developing players up to the levels of Tierney, James Forrest and Callum McGregor together with wise signings and use of the loan market seems to be the way ahead if Rodgers is to achieve his, and the club’s European ambitions.
“The money definitely gives you belief, otherwise, with all due respect, lesser players would be up at that level,” he told The Sun as he compared budgets with Valencia.
“Sometimes ability-wise there isn’t a big difference, but the belief carries them absolutely to a certain stature.
“That’s the difference when you’re looking at that next level and sometimes you have to try to bridge that gap, however which way.
“You have to find a way of playing that closes the gap. If you try to just match up against better players, then the likelihood is you’ll lose. That’s why part of the development since I came to Celtic was to have a blueprint that allows you to try to do it differently.
“By that I mean if you don’t have the money to get in the players, you have to find an identity that can help you cope. England is the model. It’s where it’s at and none of what I’m saying here is necessarily the club’s fault.
“They can only bring in a certain type of player, get them to a certain level and then the guys move on because of the money elsewhere in the game.”
Thursday in Valencia looks like the end of the line for this European adventure with a major summer rebuilding job required with four key loan deals expiring as well as the contracts of Dedryck Boyata and Mikael Lustig.