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What on earth went wrong for Celtic at Legia?

Celtic have been here before. In the 2005/06 Champions League qualifiers, the Hoops were thrashed...



What on earth went wrong for C...
Soccer

What on earth went wrong for Celtic at Legia?

Celtic have been here before. In the 2005/06 Champions League qualifiers, the Hoops were thrashed 5 - 0 in a first leg second round qualifier against Slovakian side Artemdia Bratislava.

But after consecutive seasons in the Champions League group stages, the 4 - 1 defeat in last night's third qualifying round first leg against Legia Warsaw is a bitter blow for Celtic and for their new manager Ronny Deila.

But what went wrong and what will the impact be if the SPL champions miss out on Champions League revenue?

Evening Times and Herald's Ronnie Cully joined us on the show tonight and he saw it as a "collapse" after going in front early on, with the defence "all over the place".

Cully admitted that entering the Champions League qualifying stage at such an early point due to Scotland's poor UEFA co-efficent may be making it more difficult for Celtic who have yet to play any competitive games domestically.

The lack of investment is the other issue and also fueled Neil Lennon's decision to step down as manager.

"I described it as a car crash which Neil saw on the horizon and decided that he didn't want to be behind the steering wheel when it happened," said Cully.

"The problem Celtic have is that they are spreading the net wide to pick up players who they can develop and sell for a profit. They are not replacing them with the same quality."

Cully estimates that €50 million must have been raked in between player sales and Champions League revenue in recent seasons but that very little of this seems to be reinvested directly into restrengthening the team.

And it could get worse.

"If they don't get in [to the Champions League] this year, I would worry that the big hole it would leave in their income would mean that even more of their top players will go." 

 

 

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