CELTIC not being good enough for the Champions League is understandable. That they are unable to properly compete in the Europa League group stage is not.

Three games remain in Group B but nobody should kid themselves the Scottish champions can finish second. RB Leipzig, even with eight changes, were several classes apart here, while Red Bull Salzburg have all-but qualified.

Brendan Rodgers and the club as a whole have had two-and-a bit-years of winning everything at home while making a ridiculous amount of money in the process from Europe. No real progress has been made. That’s the harsh truth from this season and much of last season.

A depleted Celtic against one of the best teams in Germany was never going to be a fair fight.

But when an underdog’s defence continually fails in the most basic tasks in professional football, then it’s only going to be a case of how many Celtic would lose by. Again. It’s got boring apart from anything else.

Beating Hearts on Sunday to secure their place in the League Cup final was prioritised far above this European match. Mikael Lustig got a rest for 45 minutes, Tom Rogic wasn’t risked, neither was Filipe Benkovic, all with Murrayfield in mind. Benkovic looks like a proper player and yet he was on the bench for a match which he was lured north for given his pedigree.

Rodgers saw something in his players in the second-half against Salzburg which made him think that, this season, Europe is a distraction. And do you want to know something unpalatable? He is right.

With Rangers improved, Hearts top of the league with their best team since 2005, Hibernian a danger, Kilmarnock remaining the best Premiership side of 2018 and, incredibly, Livingston for the moment a part of the puzzle, Celtic cannot afford to drop points, as they have been able to in the past, so something has to give.

Even great Celtic sides of the past couldn’t get a win on Germany soil. It was always asking a lot for this team, minus some key players who were replaced by raw inexperience, to take anything from RB Leipzig, a hard club to love but one which have over the last few years become a main player in what is arguably the strongest domestic league in the world.

If we are watching the final season of the Rodgers’s reign, then he wants, and his club needs, to win an eighth league in a row and at least one domestic trophy. The Europa League makes them money but the actual games have brought little reward.

This won’t go down well with supporters still confused and upset by the lack of transfers when Celtic have never been so financially strong – but that’s the situation right here and now.

Although it shouldn’t be. Celtic should have been good enough to beat AEK Athens. They should be able to give teams such as RB Leipzig more of a game.

There was easily 4000 Celtic supporters in Leipzig, some behaved better than others what with banned pyrotechnics being let off inside the stadium, but these away days now focus on drink, singing and before this game a noisy and colourful march from the city centre to the Red Bull Arena.

The actual result, to an extent, is not so important.

However, what happened once they got to their seats was soul-destroying predictable. This has to change. A discussion for another time.

Lewis Morgan began his first ever Celtic game and played in a front two with Odsonne Edouard. Ryan Christie and Christian Gamboa also started. It was always going to be a chore.

Both Kouassi and Olivier Ntcham were robbed off possession within the first minute. The clock had just past two minutes when the home side were lining up their third corner.

However, Celtic were a couple of inches away from an early goal themselves. Seven minutes had gone when the ball zipped down the right wing from Gamboa to Morgan. The youngster did well to turn and get a low cross to Edouard who, rightly, took a second’s delay before putting a shot across goal which only just missed the far post.

Celtic began to play a bit. Sure, the passing wasn’t always great but there was an organisation and energy, and had Ntcham passed to Callum McGregor a second before he did, his team-mate had run through the middle of Leipzig’s defence unmarked, it probably would have led to a goal.

Celtic looked comfortable. We should have known better.

On the half hour, Marcel Sabitzer crossed from the right, there was nothing special about it, Kouassi missed his block, Boyata wasn’t in position to then intercept, the ball went past him and within a second it was past Craig Gordon via Matheus Cunha’s right boot.

It was 2-0 within four minutes. And that was that.

Gamboa needlessly slid in to tackle Marcelo Saracchi on the touchline The Leipzig left-back skipped past him, his cross hit off a couple of Celtic players and the Portuguese, as he did recently at Hampden, passed the ball past Gordon.

Rodgers on the touchline tried to get his players moving. But the heads were down, confidence utterly gone and the Germans were grateful for the space and time offered to them.

Gordon did well to stop Kevin Kampl getting a third and half-time was a blessed relief.

Gamboa pulled up straight after his error – my guess is we won’t see him play for Celtic again – and was replaced by Lustig.

Konrad Laimer rode through three tackles only to see his effort go wide on 53 minutes, as the Leipzig players sensing no threat of a comeback were happy to play within themselves.

Another Boyata mistake allowed Augustin a shot at goal, he was unfortunate to hit a post; Gordon got down to make a save.

Ntcham missed a good chance later on but this game was over as soon as Leipzig scored their second. For Celtic, the group is more or less over now.