Lionel Messi was the difference as Celtic fell 2-0 at home to Barcelona in the Champions League on Wednesday night.
Brendan Rodgers' men did not disgrace themselves by any means but the little Argentine and his Barcelona buddies were not to be turned over for a repeat of Celtic's historic 2013 group stage win.
Speaking on RTÉ after the game, Eamon Dunphy and Liam Brady were discussing how Celtic had lost their way in Europe in recent times, and how it was a shame how the glory days of Celtic being known throughout Europe appeared to be gone.
That was when Darragh Maloney posed the question "Do Celtic need to play in the English football system", which was initially met with a resounding "Yes" before Eamon Dunphy explained why it can't happen.
Rec996 by kikimusampasoccer
It's sad that Celtic isn't on the world stage. Definitely.
Interesting that he brought up the attempt to take Wimbledon to Ireland, which Conor Neville covered in depth for this website before if you were unaware.
Rodgers has Celtic playing a good standard of football in the group stages of Europe's elite competition, but you have to wonder how much room there is to grow when there is such little challenge domestically.
The idea of Celtic playing in the English football system is something that has been flirted with, and as Dunphy revealed indeed attempted before, but there is just no way that it can happen. The problem lies with the game in Scotland, although that's a debate for another day.
