Celtic disgrace once again shows seismic gulf to Rangers | OneFootball

Celtic’s abysmal failure in the Champions League last night proves once again the gulf between Rangers and Celtic, but it is not the gulf most people think of. Domestically, Rangers are a joke. The league table does not lie. We sit in the bottom half for the first time since 1989, with a team that is absolutely ghastly. The signings are appalling, the management is abysmal, and the football is atrocious. Celtic, by contrast, are flying. Now solo above Hearts, they have made a perfect start. They will keep winning and they will win the league unless Derek McInnes pulls off something truly miraculous at Tynecastle. Celtic are miles behind Rangers in Europe.

Gulf

Yet when you shift focus to Europe, the roles are reversed. Rangers are streets ahead of Celtic. The gulf is staggering. Yes, Rangers have only made the Champions League once in 13 years, and yes, that campaign was a disgrace. But context matters. Giovanni van Bronckhorst was working with a crippled squad and woeful recruitment. Even with that failure, Celtic’s European record makes Rangers look like Real Madrid in comparison.

At that level, Celtic are ‘atrocious’. Inverness Caledonian Thistle called them that years ago, and nothing has changed. Celtic are a bomb scare in Europe. They are what Rangers are in the league: a laughing stock. It is a bizarre dichotomy. Celtic rule Scotland with ease, but they collapse on the continent. Rangers stumble through the league like amateurs, yet transform into a European force the moment the anthem plays.

Domination

We have said it for years: no Scottish club can dominate both fronts. It is one or the other. Celtic own the Premiership. Rangers own Europe. Since Steven Gerrard, Rangers have excelled in continental competition. The runs to Seville, Dortmund, Leipzig, Villarreal – these moments define us. Celtic, meanwhile, keep crashing out to clubs ranked hundreds of places below them, making fools of themselves on the global stage.

Which matters more? Celtic fans melt down every year at their humiliations in Europe, while Rangers fans rage weekly at league collapses. Both are critical to both clubs’ identities. But the reality is simple. Celtic are dreadful in Europe, Rangers are dreadful domestically. Timmy are supreme in Scotland, Rangers are supreme abroad. Celtic are miles behind Rangers in Europe. Them’s the breaks.