Ally McCoist defended Celtic’s recent drubbing in the Champions League by highlighting the gulf in finances for those in Scotland between the rest of Europe.
Brendan Rodgers watched his side, who were down to ten men for large parts of the game, suffer a 6-0 defeat at the hands of Atletico Madrid on Tuesday night – Jamie Carragher reacted to the result.
It all but ends Celtic’s chances of making the knockout stages, with the team sitting bottom of Group E on one point, with two fixtures remaining.
Whilst many enjoy throwing verbal pelters at Celtic, Ally McCoist was quick to remind fans that Tottenham Hotspur, managed then by Mauricio Pochettino, conceded seven to Bayern Munich in the Champions League, as he told talkSPORT (07/11/23 at 6:50 pm).
That happened in Tottenham’s own backyard in 2019, with ex-Arsenal man Serge Gnabry scoring an incredible four goals.
There are even present examples that can be used, with Chris Sutton slamming Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United after they suffered a 4-3 defeat to FC Copenhagen in the Champions League last night.
Ally McCoist defends Celtic in the Champions League
“Am I not right in saying that Spurs got hit for seven recently?” said McCoist. “When I say recently, but by Bayern Munich, at some point.
“These results can happen. It’s always tough. It’s tough for the Scottish teams because they can’t compete financially at all with the big boys.
“Whether we like it or not, we are Europa League teams, at this moment in time. We need the finances of the Champions League – the Dutch teams get four or five times more than Celtic and Rangers. We always say to ourselves, compare ourselves to Feyenoord and PSV. We actually can’t really. They get a lot more money.
“We should be doing better. But that’s what we have to address.”
Aberdeen game
It’s time for the team to quickly turn its attention to Aberdeen on Sunday because that eight-point gap will either need to be maintained, or even extended.
Things haven’t gone well in Europe, but on the domestic scene, the Bhoys are still unbeaten and going strong.
Against Ross County last time out, from Matt O’Riley to Kyogo Furuhashi, a number of key players were rested on the bench, so this allows Rodgers to go strong against the Dons.
Whilst Celtic have taken their own hits in Europe, Aberdeen are suffering the same issues in the Europa Conference League and will be travelling back from Greece on Thursday night after taking on PAOK.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
