Ally McCoist defended Celtic’s recent Champions League thrashing by emphasising the financial disparity between Scotland and the rest of Europe.
Brendan Rodgers watched his Liverpool side, who were reduced to ten men for much of the game, lose 6-0 to Atletico Madrid on Tuesday night – Jamie Carragher reacted.
Celtic’s chances of making the knockout stages are all but over, with the team sitting bottom of Group E on one point with two games remaining.
While many fans enjoy hurling insults at Celtic, Ally McCoist reminded fans that Tottenham Hotspur, then managed by Mauricio Pochettino, conceded seven goals to Bayern Munich in the Champions League, as he told talkSPORT (07/11/23 at 6:50 pm). That occurred in Tottenham’s own backyard in 2019, with ex-Arsenal striker Serge Gnabry scoring four goals. There are even current examples, such as Chris Sutton slamming Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United after they lost 4-3 to FC Copenhagen in the Champions League last night.
Celtic’s Ally McCoist defends the club in the Champions League.
“Am I not right in saying that Spurs got hit for seven recently?” McCoist asked. “When I say recently, but at some point by Bayern Munich. These outcomes are possible. It’s never easy. The Scottish teams are struggling because they cannot compete financially with the big boys.
We are, whether we like it or not, Europa League teams at the moment. We need the Champions League money, which the Dutch teams get four or five times more than Celtic and Rangers. We always tell ourselves that we should compare ourselves to Feyenoord and PSV. We can’t really do it. They are paid significantly more.
“We ought to be doing better. But that is what we must 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.
