Brendan Rodgers: You have to defend properly and we didn’t

The Celtic manager, who had taken the Hoops into the group stages of the competition in his first two years in charge, had admitted the third qualifying round tie in the Olympic Stadium was his biggest qualifying challenge to date following the 1-1 draw in the first leg at Parkhead last week.

And despite a late Scott Sinclair goal, strikes early in each half from Rodrigo Galo and Marko Livaja were enough for the Greek champions to set up a showdown with MOL Vidi on August 22 for a spot in the Champions League proper.

And the former Liverpool manager did not mince his words post match.

"I still felt this was a game in which we had more than enough to win but you have to defend better than we did," he said.

Dropping down to the Europa League, where they will play Latvian side Spartaks Jurmala or Lithuanian side Suduva, is a huge blow for Celtic who will miss out on the prestige – not to mention the vast sums of money – to be earned in the Champions League.