Scottish champions Celtic suffered an embarrassing 1-0 defeat against part-time Gibraltar team Lincoln Red Imps in the first leg of the second qualifying round of the Champions League.
The only goal of the game came from veteran Gibraltar international Lee Casciaro just after half-time. The result has been described as the most embarrassing result the Hoops have endured in their history.
The clash was new boss Brendan Rodgers’ first in charge of the Hoops and it seems the former boss has a lot of work to do with the current group of players. The second leg will be played at Celtic Park next week.
There will need to be a big improvement from the Hoops to overcome the narrow deficit. Rodgers knows that his side are still major favourites to make it through to the next round, but they will need to up their game.
The Hoops had Moussa Dembele goal disallowed in the first period, while striker Leigh Griffiths hit the woodwork twice in the second period.
Rodgers arrived in Glasgow with a big reputation this summer, despite his dismissal as Liverpool boss last season. He is still regarded as a very highly-rated boss and Celtic snapping him up was considering a slight coup for the Hoops.
However, it will be disastrous if the Scottish champions are knocked out at the second qualifying stage of the Champions League against a part-time team.
Celtic have dominated the SPL for a long time. The next logical step for the Hoops is to do well in Europe. For the Scottish champions to do that then they need to overcome the now tricky second leg of this tie.