MARSHALL EYES BIG PICTURE AMID OLD FIRM’S EURO WOES

FOR Rangers, a fifth consecutive Champions League loss saw their hopes of European football after Christmas all but buried in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius. A chastening 3-0 defeat to Napoli meant last season’s Europa League finalists could yet match or eclipse Dinamo Zagreb’s Class of 2011 — zero points, goal difference of minus 19 — as the team with statistically the worst-ever group stage campaign. For a group of ashen-faced Celtic players, meanwhile, yet more wastefulness in front of goal in a 1-1 draw with Shakhtar Donetsk 24 hours earlier saw the Scottish champions ignominiously eliminated from continental competition with a game to spare. But Hibs goalkeeper David Marshall has warned that the dark clouds that hover over the Scottish game in the wake of these latest European debacles should not obscure the brighter, bigger picture. Marshall made the famous penalty save from Aleksandar Mitrovic in a Euro 2020 play-off final in Serbia that ended the national team’s 23-year wait to grace a major finals. He points out that Celtic and Rangers both making the Champions League group stage this season was the first time this country’s top flight had two representatives at the elite level in 15 years. While results have been unquestionably poor, the veteran Hibs player (right) believes the overall evidence shows our national game is on the up. ‘It has been two difficult Champions League campaigns for the Old Firm but it’s probably right not to be overly critical,’ said Marshall, who famously kept a clean sheet in the Nou Camp on his full European debut as Celtic eliminated Barcelona from the UEFA Cup in 2004. ‘There may be a lack of experience there because they have not both been in the group stages for a number of years. Unfortunately, a lot of it can come down to funding and teams at that level of the game are at a different level in terms of finance. ‘I think Rangers might feel a bit more unhappy about their campaign but it can happen. When the draw was made, with Liverpool, Napoli and Ajax, everybody could see that Rangers probably had the toughest group out of the whole Champions League. ‘Celtic have maybe been a little bit unlucky with certain goals and chances missed in games. ‘There’s definitely a lot of positivity about Scottish football just now. The national team has kicked on since eventually reaching a tournament and we have got players playing at the very top level down south now.’ Despite the travails of Scottish teams on their travels, Marshall hopes to be sampling a continental adventure with Hibs next season and hopes the Easter Road side can beat St Mirren at home today to move up to third or fourth place. ‘Europe is something we are aiming for with Hibs,’ he added. ‘The more Scottish teams in Europe the better and the introduction of the Europa Conference League has given everyone an extra target.’