HOOPS THEY HAVE DONE IT AGAIN!

Celtic are sent crashing out of qualifiers for a third year in a row and blow £30m bounty

FOR Celtic, this goes down as another calamitous Champions League exit to add to AEK Athens and Cluj. At the last calculation, the revenue of Ferencvaros is roughly a fifth of what the Parkhead side make in a year. Yet when it comes to Europe’s premier competition, Scotland’s champions are repeatedly failing to extract much bang for their buck.

For a third straight year, Neil Lennon’s side now miss out on the top table. The manager has been in Glasgow long enough to know how this plays. With another £30million down the pan at a time of virus-induced financial strife, the impact of this on the club’s fortunes — and prestige — can’t be overstated.

Celtic supporters have spent most of this summer fretting over a dystopian future devoid of Odsonne Edouard. The pre-match thigh injury which ruled the Frenchman out offered a grim glimpse of what lies ahead. In truth, it wasn’t pretty.

The Parkhead side still have a Europa League third-round qualifier on which to cling. A glitch in the competition format means they could even get a bye to the play-off round. This was the first time since 2005 Celtic have failed to reach at least the third qualifying round of the Champions League, however, and the fall-out from this will run for days. What the loss of revenue means for Edouard’s long-term future is another question.

By the end, Lennon’s decision to leave £8m of strike talent on the bench felt like a re-run of an old movie. Twelve months ago, Celtic crashed out in the third qualifying round to Romanians Cluj with a midfielder — Callum McGregor — pitched in at left-back. This time a midfielder started at centre-forward, and while Ryan Christie’s deflected goal early in the second half gave the home side a lifeline, it wasn’t enough.

Inevitably, focus will fall on the team selection and the absence of a recognised forward until the late arrival of £5m signing Albian Ajeti 12 minutes from time. Patryk Klimala was signed for £3.5m last January and didn’t get a sniff despite Edouard’s absence. Right now, the Pole must be wondering if he’s in the wrong movie.

Yet to fixate on a striker would be to ignore the deficiencies in defence. Celtic have spent the last week or two hesitating over paying a £2m loan fee for Shane Duffy — and the failure to strengthen the back line cost them big time here.

Ferencvaros were always expected to be a step-up in class from KR Reykjavik, 6-0 losers in the first qualifying round. Hungary’s Green Eagles won back-to-back titles under Ukrainian football legend Serhiy Rebrov.

Decent in the Europa League last season, there was an away win over CSKA Moscow and a draw at Espanyol. They lost one out of six all in and only narrowly missed out on the last 32, conceding just two goals away from home. Everywhere they went they were lousy house guests, making life awkward and difficult for the hosts.

Yet even with the advantage of the opening goal after seven minutes, they shouldn’t have won this. The Hungarians had two real attacks and scored two goals. They were quick and dangerous up front. While Celtic huffed and puffed, they were lethal. The opening goal came from a lightning quick break and their first corner.

Celtic dealt with the set-piece well enough until the ball landed at David Siger’s feet 25 yards from goal. Scott Brown was caught in two minds, no one closing the midfielder down. A dipping strike nestled in the far corner.

The winner was another rope-adope strike. Celtic were pressing for the winner and looking likely to get it when a hopeful, slightly desperate clearance to break up a home attack sent Tokmac Chol Nguen one-on-one on right-back Hatem Abd Elhamed.

The Israeli’s reluctance to make a challenge and risk a red card after a first-half booking was obvious, but he really should have cemented him. The No 10 got his head down, used his pace and nicked a deft angled finish past Vasilis Barkas.

Lennon will say he had guys more than capable of scoring goals and he’s right. But a capacity to score goals is different from an inbuilt capacity to be in the right place at the right time. Christie did fine, Mohamed Elyounoussi was a constant threat. On a night when they lacked a natural focal point, the failure to keep the back door shut was disastrous.

Celtic’s best spell of the first half came in the five minutes before half-time, Elyounoussi crafting two decent openings. The first saw the Norwegian cut across the 18-yard line before slotting a shot a foot wide with the keeper beaten.

The second followed some neat passing, McGregor playing in the winger for a low shot on goal. It was a rare chink of genuine light and he failed to get enough on it, the keeper diving low to smother. A goal at that point would have changed the mindset and given Celtic the chance to fix things at half-time.

The rain tumbled down from a leaden sky at the start of the second half and mirrored the mood. Scotland’s champions had it all to do.

The mood improved with an equaliser in 53 minutes. Elyounoussi’s neat one-two on the edge of the area with James Forrest laid the ball to the side and Christie swept a left-foot shot towards goal — the ball deflecting off the head of the central defender Adnan Kovacevic before dipping under the bar.

How Christie needed that goal. How Celtic needed it. At 1-1, they were a team transformed.

They came to within inches of taking the lead twice in the 59th minute. The first came when Elhamed’s run to the touchline produced a cut-back smashed into the ground by Olivier Ntcham. The Celtic technical area groaned as one when the ball crashed off the face of the crossbar and bounced to safety.

Seconds later, Christie’s low drive from an acute angle was heading inside the far post until Denes Dibusz got a fingertip to the ball to divert it wide for a corner.

Celtic were now firmly on top, the torrential rain starting to weigh down the heavy shirts of the Ferencvaros players.

Yet they only needed one chance in the end. The pace of the visitors — allied to a lack of for Celtic — was the difference in the end. Celtic’s fixation with ten in a row has taken the eye off the ball at times. Last night, it cost them.