The Champions League is the order for the week for both Celtic and Rangers as both clubs hope to join Europe’s elite in the lucrative league phase of the competition.
With a minimum of £40m at stake, the finances involved in reaching the league stage of UEFA’s elite competition are incredibly important for both Celtic and Rangers.
Rangers kicked off their bid to reach the Champions League proper against Belgian side, Club Brugge with Celtic facing Kairat Almaty tonight.
And after watching Rangers get battered with three goals in the first 20 minutes of the Ibrox clash, Ally McCoist is in serious Celtic pain this morning as he admits just how far his old club are away from the Scottish champions.
Ally McCoist believes ending Celtic’s domination is ‘miles’ away for Rangers
McCoist was giving his opinion on Rangers’ defeat to Brugge this morning and it’s clear he is extremely worried about his old club’s chances of ever catching Celtic.
McCoist said on talkSPORT [2m], “We are at this moment in time, no doubt, a Europa League side. Absolutely, 100% a Europa League side.
“What we need to do more than anything right now, again, on top of earning as much money as we possibly can, is be back to a very successful side domestically, where you’re winning leagues and winning cups on a regular basis, and that’s the first thing we’ve got to do.
“And we’ll look, I agree with you. We’ll look miles off that as well.”
McCoist admits Celtic will ‘go further ahead’ of Rangers now
If Celtic get past Kairat Almaty tonight and next Tuesday, it looks like the Parkhead club will have sole access to UEFA’s Champions League millions.
And that is giving McCoist the fear.
McCoist continued, “That’s factually correct. I mean, a couple of years ago we were in it, we got a couple of going overs from right good teams in Napoli and Liverpool, particularly at home.
“So you clearly don’t want to see that. You don’t want to look embarrassed and look out of your depth. That’s where we were back then on those couple of nights.
“But it’s a Catch 22 situation and you know it. Celtic, who are still ahead of us, if they get through, will pick up the revenue for the Champions League and probably go further ahead domestically.”
Celtic fans will be fully focused on Kairat Almaty and hoping Rodgers can engineer a comfortable lead to take to Kazakhstan for the second leg.
With Celtic Park tickets selling fast, Parkhead looks like it will be a complete sell-out as the Hoops look to rub shoulders with Europe’s big boys once more.
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