It must be tough to be a Celtic supporter at the minute. Having become so accustomed to see their team succeed over the previous decade, the last 12 months or so have been a bit of a nightmare.
Not only did they blow their chance to win a historic tenth league title on the trot by finishing well behind Glasgow rivals Rangers, but their endeavours both on and off the pitch have turned into farce at times.
However, there have been signs of life under Ange Postecoglou. Their results in domestic competition have been good, and while they would fall short against Midtjylland in Champions League qualification, their 2-0 victory over AZ Alkmaar last week was an impressive one.
They put themselves into a good position to progress after tonight's second leg in The Netherlands, although they did themselves no favours early on.
Despite taking the lead via Kyogo Furuhashi in the third minute, Joe Hart soon showed his true colours by making an absolute balls of a routine ball over the top and hand the home side an equaliser.
It's a disaster for Joe Hart! 😮
AZ Alkmaar get an almost instant response and it's a goal that Celtic's defence and goalkeeper will want to forget 😬 pic.twitter.com/lcG4KdnZh6— Premier Sports (@PremierSportsTV) August 26, 2021
It would soon get worse for Celtic.
Defender Carl Starfelt would somehow manage to turn the ball into his own net despite being under zero pressure from the opposition.
We're not quite sure how he managed it.
The defensive nightmare continues for Celtic! 😱
A miskick from Carl Starfelt sees the ball hit his standing leg and fly behind him into his own net 🤦 pic.twitter.com/mEQgKQqMJ5— Premier Sports (@PremierSportsTV) August 26, 2021
As Celtic supporters will tell you, none of this should surprise you.
Luckily, the Scottish side would manage to keep a clean sheet in the second half as they advanced to the group stages on a 3-2 aggregate victory.