Celtic were beaten by Kairat Almaty in the Champions League playoffs on Tuesday evening, putting into perspective their horrific qualifying record over the past decade and more.
The Parkhead club lost out on penalties in Kazakhstan last night after themselves and Kairat couldn't be separated after over three hours of football.
Adam Idah, Luke McCowan and Daizen Maeda all missed in the shootout.
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Celtic humbled by Kairat: Gamble backfires, serious questions, misfiring Maeda
The playoff loss to Kairat was not the first time Celtic have been eliminated from the Champions League in the qualifying rounds. Indeed, it is the fifth consecutive qualifying campaign that they have failed to negotiate.
Celtic's horror UCL qualifying record in focus
In 2024/25, 2023/24, and 2022/23, Celtic were granted automatic entry to the Champions League for winning the Scottish Premiership.
In the four previous campaigns, however, they had to go through qualifiers. Each season, they were beaten.
Midjylland knocked them out in the second qualifying round under Ange Postecoglou in 2021/22, while Ferencvaros and Cluj eliminated a team led by Neil Lennon in the two previous campaigns.
Going further back, in Rodgers' previous spell, AEK Athens defeated Celtic in the third qualifying round in the 2018/19 season.
The current boss led his team to qualification in 2016/17 and 2017/18 by beating Hapoel Be'er Sheva and Astana, but in 2015/16, Ronny Deila's men lost 4-3 on aggregate to Malmo in the playoffs.
A year prior, in 2014/15, also under the Norwegian, Celtic lost, again in the playoffs, to Maribor of Slovenia.
Although they evidently have a dreadful record in Champions League qualifiers, the current campaign will be Celtic's first in the Europa League since 2021/22.
The draw for the league phase, in which the Bhoys will play eight different teams, takes place on Friday at midday.
