Celts can’t sugarcoat finishing in fourth

NEWSFLASH for Celtic supporters. There is no trophy for the best fourth-placed finishers in the Champions League. No prize for mustering more shots on target than Rangers. Parkhead fans take umbrage at attempts to lump the results of the two Glasgow clubs together and draw parallels. They argue there is no comparison. Under Ange Postecoglou, Celtic gave it their all. They ran themselves into the ground for an hour in every game. They crafted one chance after another. And but for fine margins, they could have finished up with six points. In reality, they only have two. That’s still two more than a Rangers side yet to win a bean. And any repeat of the embarrassing loss in Amsterdam when they play Ajax would see the Ibrox side rack up the worst performance in a Champions League group in history. In a strange quirk, however, Rangers still have an outside chance of securing Europa League football after Christmas. While almost no one expects them to hammer Ajax by five goals, the door to third place remains slightly ajar. That’s more than Celtic can say ahead of the tricky matter of a trip to Madrid. Postecoglou accepts that his team got what they deserved from the campaign. Yet some supporters keep telling themselves the whole business has been a miscarriage of justice. UEFA will place no asterisk beside Celtic’s name to say they deserved to finish third. Bottom place is bottom place. And so long as their horizons stretch no further than the other side of Glasgow, the Champions League will remain a bridge too far.