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Willie Miller: Aberdeen don’t have to be embarrassed by European qualification even though Celtic helped

Celtic's players celebrate winning the William Hill Scottish Cup.
Celtic's players celebrate winning the William Hill Scottish Cup.

Securing Europe via fourth spot in the Premiership is nothing to be disappointed or embarrassed about for Aberdeen.

Clubs tend to be measured by what they have achieved in the past and that is where any disappointment from supporters could lie.

In recent years Aberdeen have reached the Europa League qualifiers by finishing runners-up in the Premiership.

Although Aberdeen relied on Celtic winning the Scottish Cup to get there, qualifying for Europe is still an achievement.

That is due to the strength of the Premier League with the top teams all run well and having strong squads.

Having to sweat on Celtic’s treble-treble to confirm Europe is not overly relevant as the important thing is the Dons are in the Europa League draw next month.

Qualifying for Europe is a target at the beginning of every season and they have now achieved that.

Aberdeen’s record in qualifying for continental action under Derek McInnes has been great and that has continued.

European football is vitally important to the Dons, particularly in terms of status.

Hopefully they can have an extended run in the Europa League and ultimately the lucrative group stages have to be the target.

Ideally, that could lead to landing a clash with a big Euro name so the Dons can test themselves at that high level.

Reaching the group stages is difficult to achieve because of the status Scotland has in Europe.

Aberdeen would have to progress through four qualifying rounds which is a real challenge.

They will face tough sides on the route to the groups but it has to be an aspiration for the Dons.

If they could get to the group stages it would be a magnificent achievement from manager Derek McInnes and his squad.

It was achieved under Jimmy Calderwood when reaching the UEFA Cup group stages but there were not nearly as many qualifying rounds in 2007-08.

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Bayern Munich boss Ottmar Hitzfeld, left, and Aberdeen counterpart Jimmy Calderwood rally their teams during the UEFA Cup knockout tie in 2007/08

Aberdeen qualified from the groups then to go on to face German giants Bayern Munich which was fantastic for the club and city.

Playing in Europe can be financially rewarding but sometimes it is not – it just depends on how successful you can be.

Ultimately Europe is a mark of status and a statement that you are one of the top teams in the country.

Supporters also look forward to the Europa League as it offers the opportunity for them to see foreign teams visiting Pittodrie.

For those that want to travel it also gives them the chance to go overseas and see different aspects of football and other countries.

If there was not European football the players would have a little longer off during the summer.

However, I am sure they will all relinquish that to participate in the Europa League.

Ultimately Aberdeen’s Euro berth was confirmed by Celtic securing the 2-1 defeat of Hearts in the Scottish Cup final.

To secure a treble-treble is an unbelievable achievement.

For teams like Aberdeen you feel the best chance of silverware is in the cup competitions.

However, Celtic have managed to go through every domestic cup competition without defeat for the last three years, a magnificent achievement.

This article originally appeared on the Evening Express website. For more information, read about our new combined website.