Using the Seville calculator or any other metric for that matter - the numbers are starting to stack up against Celtic.
But Josip Juranovic has already done the maths and insists a one-for-all mentality can be enough to get their Europa League group stage off to a flyer against Real Betis.
A bit of history will have to be achieved if they are to win for the first time on Spanish soil and it would make it especially poignant in what's become something of a pilgrimage for a club in a city where the pain of their 2003 UEFA Cup Final loss to Porto was inflicted.
The Croatian defender has crunched the figures and despite the Hoops adding Callum McGregor, Greg Taylor and Liel Abada to list the absentees, he's adamant collective effort can overcome the odds against Los Verdiblancos
He said: “As a team we must play together if we want to reach our goal. If you play as an individual then you cannot reach the top level in football. If you play as a team you can beat a team who’ve spent a lot of money so for me the most important thing is that we play as a team.
“We need to defend as a team and attack as a team. If we do that then we will have a good chance of being able to play our own football.
“We must make sure we manage to get possession of the ball, if we can get that possession then we can create chances and score goals.
“There will be times when we must defend as a team and every single player must give two hundred-per-cent to make sure we don’t concede any goals. If we do that then I believe we will have chances to score, I believe that one hundred-per-cent."
The 26-year-old arrived at Celtic this summer from Legia Warsaw in a £2.5million move and has already demonstrated his adaptability by making a debut against Rangers at left back before being shunted over to the opposite flank in last weekend's win over Ross County.
It's a measure or the belief within Juranovic that he claims to have been unfazed by a baptism of fire at Ibrox and he's adamant tonight's clash with Real Betis is right up his street and a proving ground for a club which should have European ambitions.
He said: “I like to play in the big games as it’s in the big games where you must show your quality.
“You need to show you are calm with the ball and that you have the right attitude.
“Everyone at Celtic likes to play at Champions League and Europa League level and these are the big stages where the players want to show themselves. We want to prove that we are worthy of this stage."
Ange Postecoglou and his players arrived in Seville on Wednesday ahead of a clash with La Liga cracks Betis who are managed by former Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini and can boast a budget which would be the envy of most clubs in Europe.
But Juranovic insists he already has experience of going toe to toe with big spenders as a Hajduk Split player four years ago in a Europa League play-off exit when Gylfi Sigurdsson marked his first start for Everton by scoring from inside his own half.
He said: “I played against Everton, we drew 1-1. They scored from their half of the pitch but the most important thing was we played like a team. Hadjuk is a really good club but Everton spent something like £150million on transfers this summer and they only beat us because of that goal. That, for me, shows you that money is not everything."
The Croatian international won't be read anything into odds of over 4/1 for a Celtic win tonight after a week where the form book has already been thrown out of the window.
He said: “For me it is not about favourites. You just saw Manchester United lose against Young Boys, so you can see the favourites don’t always win.
“If you play like a team you can reach goals you would not believe and that is the most important thing.”
The loss of McGregor is a hammer-blow for the Hoops but Juranovic insists whoever steps in as skipper will rise to the occasion.
He said: “I think Callum is a great person, a great player, a great captain but here we have players who can replace him because this is Celtic, we’re a big club and we have lots of big players.
“If we change captain, whoever becomes captain will give everything for the team and themselves to show them in a good way."
The start of a Europa League group campaign is nigh and as all roads lead to Seville which will host this year's final, Juranovic wouldn't bank on a repeat of the exodus made by thousands of Celtic fans 18-years ago but he promised to give everything at the club start another journey.
He said: “I cannot promise you that, but I can promise we will give everything, not just 100 per cent, but 200 per cent to reach our goals and that we will go into each game with maximum concentration and with a winning mentality."
