REGARDLESS of who Celtic are drawn to face in the last 32 of the Europa League on Monday afternoon, they will not come up against a team of the calibre of either Bayern Munich of Paris Saint-Germain.

It was the Scottish champions’ distinct misfortune to be pitted against two of the favourites to win Europe’s premier club competition this season in Group B. There was never any realistic chance of them progressing to the knockout stages for the fourth time in their history after they were put in the same section as the French and German giants.

Whoever they are paired with at UEFA headquarters at Nyon in Switzerland next week will be eminently more beatable than Unai Emery’s expensively-assembled team or Jupp Heynckes’ equally formidable side.

So it is understandable there are high hopes among many Celtic supporters just now that, despite the unconvincing performance against Anderlecht and the 1-0 loss they suffered at home in their final group game, they will be able to progress even further in the Europa League this term.

They should, though, be wary. It is still asking a great deal of Brendan Rodgers’s men to make it through to the last 16 of the competition given the quality of the some of the sides they could find themselves up against.

No fewer than four of the big five footballing nations, England, Germany, Italy and Spain, have seeded clubs in the last 32. Celtic could, then, find themselves up against Arsenal, RB Leipzig, AC Milan, Atalanta, Lazio, Athletic Bilbao or Atletico Madrid. Beating any member of that septet and advancing would be a major accomplishment.

Even those clubs from so-called smaller footballing countries will be no pushovers either. Braga and Sporting Lisbon of Portugal, CSKA Moscow, Lokomotiv Moscow and Zenit Saint Petersburg from Russia and Dynamo Kyiv of Ukraine will all present stiff opposition.

Getting Viktoria Plzen of the Czech Republic or Salzburg of Austria would certainly give the Glasgow club a chance. But both of those clubs topped their qualifying groups comfortably. It is little wonder that Rodgers has been urging caution since his side achieved their objective.

“We have to have a touch of realism,” he said. “There are going to be far, far better teams in there than ourselves. Wednesday night was an example that there is still a long, long way to go. The gap there is with the really big teams at the very top level of European football and even those who are just below that as well is still huge.”

The 3-0 triumph over Anderlecht away in Belgium at the end of September – a result which ultimately ensured that Celtic would finish third in their group - led to many in Scottish football getting a bit carried away with how they could fare once they dropped into the Europa League.

The simple truth is the financial limitations of playing their domestic football in Scotland, where the television deal has long been one of the worst in Europe, make their prospects of competing on the continent minimal. Clubs in Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Poland and Sweden all make far more from the sale of broadcasting rights. It is an unfortunate state of affairs which is set to get worse not better. “It will become even more difficult for us,” said Rodgers.

It has been interesting to see Celtic, a well-run and stable club which achieves consistent success on the field while leaving within its means, being linked with bids to buy the majority shareholdings in A League clubs Central Coast Mariners and Brisbane Road in Australia. Multi-club ownership is one way they could increase their income. Going down the same route as Ajax, Atletico Madrid and Manchester City may help them to attract potential sponsors.

But with Barclays Premier League clubs banking over a billion pounds every year from their current agreement with BT and Sky Sports it is unlikely to make a significant difference to how they fare.

If anything, Celtic have overachieved by reaching the Champions League group stages, finishing third ahead of an Anderlecht side with a far larger budget for players and qualifying for the Europa League. It is unreasonable to expect them do anything more in the coming months.