The Old Firm are quartered

Celtic are out of the Champions League, and will have watched today’s draw for the quarter finals from the sidelines. Rangers are technically still in the UEFA Cup, but based on last night’s performance, no one is expecting them to come through against Osasuna in the 2nd leg next week. It looks like Scottish involvement in European club competition is over for another year.

It is telling that the mood amongst the Hoops fans is considerably lighter than the despair felt by Arsenal supporters following their exit from the competition on the same night. Partly, this is due to lower expectation – just getting through the group stage is still something of a novelty for a Scottish club. But it is also because Celtic know they will be back next year, with the SPL title now within touching distance, while Arsenal still have a fight on their hands to guarantee a place in next season’s elite competition.

Yet both teams share a very good reason not to be too disheartened – they are both young, and can surely only improve in the next few years. The callowness of the Celtic team was thrown into sharp relief against the veterans of Milan, and in the end experience (and quality) told, as Kaka scored in extra time to settle the tie. Celtic were denied a penalty when Maldini handled the ball inside the area, but then Lee Naylor also got away with an illegal challenge in Celtic’s box too, so the result was a justified one. Celtic had failed to score in the first leg at Celtic Park, and were always second favourites at the San Siro.

Gordon Strachan done a remarkable job at Celtic so far, refreshing an ageing squad with limited a transfer budget and reducing the wage bill at the same time, but it’s surely time to accept that one of his bigger purchases has flopped. Thomas Gravesen was signed from Real Madrid in the summer to add some experience and guile, but was not brought on until an hour had gone on Wednesday night. If he cannot command a starting place in front of the 19 year old Evander Sno, or the technically limited Jari Jarosik, in such an important match, it’s very hard to justify his reputed £40k a week wages. Strachan refutes the rumours that he’ll be off in the summer, but if they can find a buyer, it will happen.

Rangers are also in the midst of a rebuilding programme, and they too will likely be looking to next season very soon. Runners-up spot in the SPL is looking increasingly safe, meaning a qualifying round entry into next season’s Champions League, and they have a few more young players joining in the summer – St Mirren defender Kris Broadfoot being the latest to sign a pre-contract agreement.

They are not out of this season’s UEFA Cup yet, but the 1-1 result against Osasuna flattered them, a defensive mistake by their opponents in the last minute of the game allowing Brahim Hemdani to batter the ball into the net. Once again they played Kris Boyd and Barry Ferguson in a kind of split-striker formation, but Osasuna were much less generous than the Hapoel Tel Aviv in the previous round.