Technically, you could argue that Celtic are in the last 16 of the Champions League.
And there are certainly many making that argument after their one-goal victory against the worst team in the competition.
But it's just not true, is it? They are in a playoff to reach the round of 16. The elimination rounds appropriatethat is.
And amid the stampede for sainthood to be granted to Brendan Rodgers and Callum McGregor nominated to be the next Prime Minister, perhaps that should be remembered.
Celtic have done well to secure a place in the top 24 of the new league system. There is no doubt that they have made inroads in Europe this season, although, given the club's previous reputation as a punching bag for the remains of the continent, the only way was up, to be perfectly frank.
However, the work is not finished yet. Getting to this stage, particularly given the run of matches that have emerged for Celtic, feels more like reaching par than moving mountains.
Rodgers was delighted to progress, but must be aware that his team had a favorable run of games.
Adam Idah roars with joy as Celtic finally make breakthrough against Young Boys
Kasper Schmeichel was forced to make several crucial saves to keep Young Boys at bay
For this campaign to be a real success – a real exercise to plant the flag after years of being handcuffed in a cave to be kicked by players like the Sparta Prague and Maribor reserve team; They need to go one step further and mix with the elite again. Mix it up in the games that really matter.
This is not an attempt to be harsh. This is not an attempt to belittle what this Celtic team has achieved.
Rodgers has surely met all of his key performance indicators in leading the club to this point and amassing the £6.5m bonus prize that guaranteed reaching the play-off round.
The 3-1 victory over RB Leipzig on matchday four was the kind of signature victory the manager needed. Yes, the Germans have proven to be complete underdogs in the tournament (placed 30th with a measly three points), but they were at the top of the Bundesliga at the time and the quality and intensity of Celtic's performance cannot be downplayed. They were outstanding.
The 0-0 draw against Atalanta (third in Serie A and still with title hopes) also showed another side of the coach and his players. They showed that they can attack and defend when necessary. It showed that they can fall into a siege mentality rather than being paralyzed by some foolish, overzealous attack-at-all-costs philosophy. This is now, officially, the exclusive domain of Ange Postecoglou.
As for the rest? Mmmmm. The Slovan Bratislava, crushed on opening night, is, to put it mildly, funnel fodder, abandoned at the bottom of the null points along with the young boys.
The 7-1 defeat at Dortmund was a catastrophe, which has since been made even worse by BVB's form. Head coach Nuri Sahin, of course, was sacked earlier in the week with the club 10th in the Bundesliga and on its worst run in almost 20 years.
The draw at home against Club Brugge? An important result, considering that they were outplayed by some distance in the first half.
McGregor's face says it all as Celtic captain reflects on 7-1 win at Dortmund
Liam Scales' tenacious defensive switch summed up a dogged Celtic display against Atalanta
Meanwhile, the goalless draw against Dinamo Zagreb was like watching paint dry and last Tuesday's 1-0 win over Young Boys, eked out thanks to a bizarre own goal, will hardly have caused a stir in the entire planet.
The Swiss were desperate. However, it took a great double stop from Kasper Schmeichel and another decent stop later to keep the train on the tracks.
With five minutes left, the score scoreless and Paris Saint-Germain coming back from the dead to beat Manchester City, Celtic were on the verge of letting the entire kit slip through their fingers.
Yes, the team seems tired lately. Yes, the authorities really should do more to help teams participating in UEFA competitions instead of hindering them with an unnecessary winter calendar.
But Celtic really prepared for Europe in the summer, spending £25m on Arne Engels, Adam Idah and Auston Trusty alone.
Kieran Tierney returns this month. Just like Jota. And there will no doubt be a new multimillion-dollar centre-forward entering the ranks too, following the sale of Kyogo Furuhashi to Rennes for £10m.
And, by the way, what a stupendous deal it is for a 30-year-old man who was campaigning for an exit and whose best days appear to be behind him.
The team that makes it to next month's play-off round will be stronger again. Of course, it will take a little luck in the draw, but Rodgers has the benefit that the national title race is already over. He has the opportunity to bring new signings up to speed and manage the playing time of others whose legs are feeling the strain.
The Young Boys, who featured former Rangers flop Cedric Itten at the helm, were pretty rotten.
People have been praising Celtic this week. You would think they would have landed a space probe on Saturn, given their enthusiasm for scattering rose petals on their way to see off a team languishing in ninth place out of 12 in the Swiss Super League.
However, the truth is that getting to this point should always have been seen as a realistic ambition.
Points have come from unexpected places along the journey, but is it really that big of a surprise that they are still alive in the competition ahead of Wednesday's visit to Aston Villa?
Nobody tries to downplay what has happened here. Nobody uses Europe to hit Celtic over the head with a stick, as Rodgers claimed all wanted to do just a few months ago.
It is more about placing the club's sights where they should be and where they should have been for a long time.
If you reach the last 16 for the first time in 12 years (not the play-off round or the last 16), every question ever asked about the wisdom of Rodgers and Celtic joining forces again for another turn on the merry-go-round it will have been answered. In technicolor.
The forest must fill Butland with regret
What a sliding-doors moment: Nottingham Forest's offer of around £5m for Rangers goalkeeper Jack Butland last January is starting to appear.
The Ibrox club could have made a reasonable, if not exactly huge, profit on a free transfer to help their obvious financial problems and the player could have been competing at the top of the English Premier League during a fairytale campaign under the command of Nuno Espirito Santo.
Instead, he is sitting in a position where he sold out shirts against Celtic in a Scottish Cup final and has just put the ball into his own goal in a European match at Old Trafford before letting a goal slip by. victory in the last breath.
Jack Butland hasn't had much to smile about at Rangers lately, due to injuries and recent mistakes.
The Englishman's aberration against Manchester United is one that he will want to quickly forget
Butland must regret not being part of Nuno Espirito Santo's Nottingham Forest squad
Manager Philippe Clement has said so much nonsense during his tenure at Rangers that he loses track of it all, but one particularly unfathomable was the claim in the summer that everyone was for sale except Butland. He couldn't leave at any price.
Butland must also question his own wisdom in saying “no” to Forest through his agent. At the time, he spoke of having much more to achieve in Glasgow.
If only he knew then what he knows now: that there is no money in the coffers and that his manager is telling the world that this is a long-term project to attract young players and avoid another liquidation event instead of winning real trophies .
Not exactly what a future 32-year-old who recently had hopes of being recalled by England requires.
For all concerned, the moral of the story seems clear. When operating in Scotland, you cannot afford to turn down decent offers. You strike (or rather, charge) while the iron is hot. Players and clubs.
Kettlewell has dug a big hole for himself
For those of us who were at McDiarmid Park last weekend during Motherwell's Scottish Cup defeat to St Johnstone, the hostility of the traveling support towards their team and manager Stuart Kettlewell took our breath away.
Kettlewell made a small comment afterwards by pointing out that his players have even gotten angry when they win and went further during the week by polishing the old adage of refusing to tolerate the opinions of anyone who didn't make or play the game.
Stuart Kettlewell attacked Motherwell fans… but he would do well to remember they run the club
Listen, he can do whatever he wants. This now goes far beyond attacking the guy for firing the people who pay his salary.
At Motherwell, famous for being fan-owned, they run the club effectively. Ergo, Kettlewell has dug a big hole here, okay.
And when the results really go down, you will find many happy ones who will bury you in it.