Celtic rescue Scotland from coefficient catastrophe after rock bottom Rangers and Aberdeen Euro nightmares
It was a miserable night for Scottish football in Europe - but it could have been so much worse
For so long Rangers were the team flying the flag in Europe for Scottish football in Europe.
And it the Ibrox side’s exploits even helped rivals Celtic benefit in continental competition, with the Hoops taking advantage of the coefficient boost to qualify directly to the Champions League.
But the script was flipped this midweek as the Parkhead side came to the rescue for Scottish football to avoid an absolute coefficient disaster.
It was a night that got off to a disastrous start with Rangers and Premiership rivals Aberdeen both in early action.
Danny Rohl’s debut as Light Blues boss went horribly wrong as he suffered a 3-0 defeat against SK Brann in Bergen.
It was a SIXTH straight defeat in Europe for Rangers which equals their worst losing run ever in Europe - Giovanni van Bronckhorst suffered the same to become the worst ever performing team in Champions League group history in 2022/23 - and leave them anchored to the bottom of the 36-team Europa League table and facing an exit after just three games.
Aberdeen also had an unwanted record as they conceded twice as many goals as the Light Blues with AEK Athens hitting half a dozen - and it could have been more - against Jimmy Thelin’s ragged Reds.
That Greek tragedy was the heaviest ever defeat for the Dons in Europe and, like Rangers, sees them prop up their table in the Conference League with even the likes of Gibraltar minnows Lincoln Red Imps above them.
So, when Celtic fell behind to Sturm Graz to a wonder goal at Parkhead it was looking like being one of Scottish football’s worst ever nights in European competition.
Thankfully, Brendan Rodgers’ side rallied with second half goals from Liam Scales and Benjamin Nygren downing the Austrians in the east end of Glasgow to give the Hoops four points from three games in the Europa League.
Not that it’s much to shout about given it was the first win for a Scottish side in Europe since Dundee United against Luxembourg opposition THREE MONTHS ago
And with just 2.4 points, Scotland remain outside the top 30 performing nations so far this season. But, as stated by Scotland’s coefficient website, despite a miserable night Scotland actually cut the cap on Austria after all three of their sides, including Sturm Graz, lost.
The Austrians had previously held 15th position in the coefficient table but Switzerland leapfrogged them and increased their lead over Scotland who sit in 18th place and it’s Cyprus who they must focus on directly above them in 17th.
The Cypriots were undefeated this week and AEK Larnaca stunned English Premier League side and FA Cup holders Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park and now Aberdeen can help strike a blow for the coefficient when they host them next month.