CELTIC have hit a new low after the 2-0 loss to Lazio in the Olimpico Stadium last night extinguished any lingering hopes of European football after Christmas.
Brendan Rodgers’ side toppled out of the Champions League with four defeats and a draw from their five games, an x-certificate sequence that renders next month’s Group E final match against Feyenoord at Parkhead meaningless.
It was a similar tale of woe last season under Ange Postecoglou when the Hoops faced Shaktar Donetsk in their last section game with their European fate already sealed after an identical record.
However, the latest setback in a run that has seen Joe Hart retrieve the ball from the back of his net on 14 occasions has earned Celtic the unwanted tag of being the worst performing British team in the competition.
The Hoops are the first UK club to go 15 consecutive games without a win in Europe’s elite tournament.
They have managed a mere three goals in five otings this time around with Kyogo Furuhashi claiming a double and Luis Palma the other.
It’s been SIX years since Rodgers, in his first spell in charge, saw the side win at this level, a 3-0 triumph over Anderlecht in Brussels in 2017.
DOWN AND OUT…Joe Hart is helpless as Ciro Immobile fires Lazio ahead in the 82nd minute in Rome.
It has also been just over a decade since they registered their last win under the lights in the east end of Glasgow.
That came in a 2-1 success over Ajax and, coincidentally, they get the opportunity to stop the rot when another Dutch club visit on December 13.
Unfortunately, the encounter with Feyenoord, who lost 3-1 at home to Atletico Madrid last night, won’t mean a thing as far as qualification is concerned.
