Cursed Celtic throw it away to exit Europe

Published on Tuesday 25 November 2008 23:34

ANOTHER black night abroad ended with Celtic's elimination from Europe, their 2-1 defeat by Aalborg at the Energi Nord Arena not only ejecting them from the Champions League, but leaving them bottom of Group E, without the consolation of a place in the Uefa Cup.

Talk of a curse on the Scottish champions in group matches away from home – this was their 18th, stretching back over seven years, without a victory, having now lost 17 – would form on the lips of their supporters as they led through Barry Robson before conceding an equaliser to the Brazilian striker, Caca, with a shot deflected by Stephen McManus past goalkeeper Artur Boruc and the winner to an own goal from the holding midfielder, Gary Caldwell.

The bald statistics, however, mask Gordon Strachan's team's wastefulness in a match they generally dominated and which should have yielded enough goals to have given them an insurmountable lead long before the Danish champions put the ball past Boruc in the Celtic goal.

Allan Kuhn, the Aalborg coach who took over from the sacked former Scotland captain Bruce Rioch last month, admitted that his team had been the beneficiaries of two rather fortunate goals, but Gordon Strachan, the Celtic manager, refused to blame bad luck, or refereeing decisions that included a refusal by the Austrian, Konrad Plautz, to award a penalty when Scott McDonald collided with home goalkeeper Karim Zaza and a free kick when McDonald appeared to be fouled just before Caca's equaliser.

"I think 'unbelievable' would be a fair summary of how I feel about the result," said Strachan. "I couldn't see those goals coming. We missed a few chances but I did think on the night that one would be enough.

"Aalborg hadn't really threatened us and our goalkeeper has had very little to do. But it did happen and it showed once again that, over the past three years, our inability to keep a clean sheet on these occasions has been our downfall. There's no getting away from that and, until we get that sorted out, it is likely to happen again.

"But we're not going to talk about lucky goals, or referee's decisions, or any of these things. Listen, we like to think we're a big club and that means we take the bad with the good. There's no point in us talking about penalty kicks or free kicks because it won't get us a victory and it won't make us feel any better.

"We had so many terrific performances tonight, from players like Gary Caldwell, Scott Brown, Barry Robson, Scott McDonald and others that I couldn't possibly criticise them. We've been away from home in Europe on previous occasions and not played well enough to deserve anything. Tonight I thought we did well enough to get victory. "

With Villarreal and Manchester United playing a scoreless draw in Spain, even victory would not have been enough to extend Celtic's hopes of remaining in the premier European tournament. But a score draw would have put them into the Uefa Cup.

Kuhn, understandably for a man who had made his team the first from Denmark to make the knockout stages of the Uefa Cup in its present format, celebrated his own players' comeback, but he could not disguise his recognition of his good fortune.

"We always talk of the narrow margins in the Champions League," said Kuhn. "I think we have to say the marginals came our way tonight. I did feel sorry for Gordon Strachan, considering all that's happened to Celtic away from home in Europe."

• MATCH REPORT: Aalborg 2 Celtic 1

• Stephen Halliday: Danish defeat raises prospect of first ever winless campaign for Scottish clubs in Europe