Scottish football's chances of getting an automatic Champions League place for season 2021-22 took a further blow tonight as Shakhtar Donetsk qualified for the Europa League last 32.
The result further enhances the coefficient table points gap between Ukraine in 11th place and Scotland in 12th with Rangers and Celtic still to play on Thursday in games against Lech Poznan and Lille respectively.
Shakhtar drew 0-0 in San Siro against Antonio Conte's Inter Milan to consign the Italian giants to fourth place ignominy and secure their spot in Europe's secondary competition.
Dynamo Kiev's 1-0 win over Ferencvaros also put them into the next stage of the Europa League on Wednesday meaning the Ukrainian top flight now has two representatives to pick up points to Scotland's one.
They overtook the Premiership in the standings last week after Shakhtar unexpectedly defeated Spanish giants Real Madrid.
Rangers victory over Belgian side Standard allowed the Premiership to jump back into the lead before Zorya Luhansk's shock win over Leicester reduced the margin to 0.025 points.
That has switched back on itself after two positive results in the Champions League and it's now imperative our teams get results in their final Europa League group games.
While the Ibrox men are already through, Celtic were knocked out of their group after four games following a dismal double defeat to Sparta Prague.
And that means that whatever happens, Ukraine will have two teams to rack up points while Scotland has only one - leaving our league as outsiders to claim the crucial 11th spot in the rankings
