THERE was a time when victories for Scottish clubs in Denmark were considered routine. From the halcyon days of the 1960s, when Hibs defeated Staevnet home and away in the first tie between teams from the two nations, through the very first edition of the Champions League in 1992-93, when Rangers comfortably did the same against Lyngby, it was the rule rather than the exception.
Nothing can be considered straightforward for our European representatives on their travels these days, however, especially where Celtic are concerned in the group stage of the elite tournament Gordon Strachan's team were defending more than just the
ir own credibility at the Aalborg Stadium last night as they failed to bring an end to one of the most wretched sequences of away results in Champions League history.
Not only did their 17th defeat in 18 attempts on the road ensure they do not even have Uefa Cup football to look forward to at Celtic Park beyond the turn of the year, it maintained the dire prospect of Scottish clubs failing to register even a single victory of any sort in a European campaign for the first time. This season's shocking collective record compiled by Celtic, Rangers, Motherwell and Queen of the South now stands at three draws and eight defeats in 11 games.
Include the home and away losses suffered by Hibs in the Intertoto Cup, which do not count towards the crucial Uefa co-efficient rankings, and it reads 10 defeats from 13 matches.
Celtic now have only the dead rubber of their final Group E fixture at home to Villarreal on 10 December to restore at least a sliver of pride to a truly embarrassing season for Scottish football on the continental stage.
The clubs already eliminated from European competition before Celtic last night cannot even take consolation from the calibre of opposition they faced. Elfsborg, conquerors of Hibs in the Intertoto Cup, proceeded to lose 4-3 on aggregate to the might of St Patrick's Athletic in the second qualifying round of the Uefa Cup.
Nordsjaelland, the obscure Danish club who beat Queen of the South home and away at the same stage of the Uefa Cup, proceeded no further than the first round proper where they were crushed 7-0 on aggregate by Olympiakos.
Rangers, of course, did not need to follow the subsequent progress of Kaunas to realise just how humiliating their loss to the Lithuanian side in the second qualifying round of the Champions League was.
The point was underlined, however, when Vladimir Romanov's 'other' team were promptly beaten 4-0 on aggregate by Aalborg in the third qualifying round. Kaunas' parachute drop into the Uefa Cup merely delivered another indication of their mediocrity as they suffered a 7-1 aggregate loss to Sampdoria.
With Celtic's own results barely improving matters, Scotland began last night in 32nd place in the seasonal Uefa co-efficient ranking list. Compare that dismal statistic with last season when Scotland amassed the fifth highest co-efficient, with only England, Spain, Germany and Russia better off.
It is the total for the last five years, however, which determines the access list for the Champions League and Uefa Cup in 2010-11 campaign. Scotland have slipped to 12th place in the provisional co-efficient table. Sliding just one more position would deny next season's SPL title winners automatic entry to the lucrative group stage of the Champions League.
A win for Celtic against Villarreal in a fortnight would help stave off that scenario, but Scotland must also hope clubs from the countries immediately below them in the list do not enjoy extended runs into the new year. More attention than usual, then, will be paid to the results achieved by Panathiniakos and Olympiakos, the two remaining representatives of 13th placed Greece, and Basel of Switzerland who are 14th.
For the first time since 2004-05, there will be no Scottish teams in Europe beyond the turn of the year. As depressing as that may be, the evidence provided by our clubs this season suggests some consolation should be taken in the fact we are at least spared any further humiliation.
