Celtic have been branded as a “fourth-tier” side after their 1-1 Champions League group stage draw with Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday evening.
The criticism comes from TalkSport pundit Jason Cundy, who was speaking on the station after the result confirmed the club’s elimination from European competition this season.
Despite taking a first-half lead through Giorgos Giakoumakis, Ange Postecoglou’s side were pulled back through a goal from Ukrainian winger Mykhaylo Mudryk, with the fixture finishing 1-1.
The Glasgow giants desperately needed a win to maintain any hopes of finishing third in their group and entering in the Europa League after Christmas, but a draw means it is mathematically impossible for the side to finish anywhere but bottom of their Champions League group.
And Cundy didn’t hold back when laying into Celtic and the Scottish sides competing in Europe this season.
He said: “They are fourth-tier! They’ve got two points in [five] games.
“What evidence do you need? Seriously, what more evidence do you need?
“And you’re right, the money is going to make a difference, but the reality is, Scottish football is light years behind.”
TIF Thoughts on Cundy’s comments…
Whilst Scottish clubs have generally performed below-par in European competition this season, with Rangers and Hearts also currently on course to exit European competition, it must be remembered that it was only a short time ago that Scottish clubs were making progress on the continent.
Last season, Rangers made it to the Europa League final, beating sides such as Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig on the way, and were unfortunate to lose on penalties to Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt, suggesting that Scottish clubs can be competitive in Europe, but perhaps more so Champions League level at present.
However, Celtic have been particularly uninspiring in Europe over the past decade, with the club last progressing to the knockout stages of the Champions League almost ten years ago before getting comfortably beaten by Juventus, whilst the club were knocked out of the Europa Conference League at the last-32 stage by Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt last season having initially qualified for the Champions League.
Therefore, we think that Cundy is being harsh branding Celtic a “fourth tier” side, but the club’s performances in Europe have left a lot to be desired over the past decade, and a conversation will have to be had about how the club can at least compete with sides aiming to progress past the group stage.