Celtic are still a Champions League development team and unforgivables give me threepeat fear - Chris Sutton

Celtic were a development team in the Champions League last season under Ange Postecoglou.

Fast forward a year and they are still a development team at the highest level of Europe under Brendan Rodgers. If Celtic are in there again next season, that simply cannot be the case for a third time. Constantly I hear from the players about lessons being learned, but that goes for the whole club.

Celtic’s loss to Atletico in Madrid was painful for them, but was anyone really surprised that it happened? Defeat to Diego Simeone’s side in their own backyard is hardly a cause for recriminations, but that’s not really where the damage was done. When the draw was made, for all you should never go into any game without belief, Atletico away is the one you are basically writing off as a loss. That, however, was not the case for the first game against Feyenoord away and the second at home to Lazio.

Those were huge moments and, at the risk of repeating myself as I said it at the time, Celtic were not ready for them. But it’s alright me saying it. When you hear Rodgers saying it himself during the week, that’s when it really hits home because, I’m sorry, that’s unforgivable.

Celtic knew the date of the first Champions League group matches in the second week of May when they won the title against Hearts at Tynecastle and guaranteed their place in them. That is four whole months. That Postecoglou team was building. They had their experiences of the first campaign and those that were staying could use them.

Those who were leaving needed to be replaced properly and strengthening was also needed because, having finished the campaign with two points last term, it was clear that even the side who ended that term required more furnishing. Instead,