CELTIC were outplayed and out-thought in Malmo - that was the end of it really.

They never got to grips with the pace of the game, never looked likely to penetrate, and you’ve got to tip your hat to Malmo.

They were far better, far more organised and far more up for it over the two games.

If you set aside the first 15 minutes of the first leg, Malmo were the better team throughout the tie and deservedly went through.

There has been a lot of talk about Celtic’s defending, but I wouldn’t necessarily dwell on zonal marking versus man marking. I see enough European football to know that the majority of teams probably use zonal marking these days.

I don’t know why we seem to have a blind-spot when it comes to that — bad defending is bad defending — and we saw that from Celtic over the ties.

I’m not sure it’s anything to do with one system of marking being better than another, but Celtic do need quality in those positions, that’s crystal clear.

The likelihood is that Virgil van Dijk won’t be a Celtic player much longer, and they obviously lost Jason Denayer. Those positions are so vital.

Rather than moping about the Champions League exit or wallowing in self-pity though, I hope the fans will look at the Europa League draw and think that these are games they want to go to.

I don’t mind saying that I’m very excited about Celtic’s Europa League group. It’s very hard, but good.

It’s a group with glamour, it has big clubs from different parts of Europe and teams who in other years have been in the Champions League.

I’m fed up of hearing people over the last few days criticising the Europa League, there are a lot of very, very good teams in there.

Teams like Ajax and Fenerbahçe are huge clubs that bring great support and play at wonderful venues.

Celtic will have to be at their best to get out of that group, that’s the reality of it.

These are not going to be easy games at all when you look at the sides they are up against.

Fenerbahçe were a third-pot team, but they were the team in that pot that no-one wanted to play, because I don’t think they belong there really.

I’ve been to their ground before, the ?ükrü Saraco?lu Stadium, and it’s an absolute cauldron of noise and atmosphere. It’s a very difficult place to go to for a visiting side on the Asian side of the Bosphorus in Istanbul.

They’ve got star power, too. If people aren’t familiar with Fenerbahçe's longer-serving players, they will know Robin van Persie and Nani.

They also have Brazilian playmaker Diego, and some very, very good Turkish players like Mehmet Topal and Caner Erkin.

Fenerbahçe might just be the strongest team in the group even though they weren’t top seeds. They just missed out on the title last season in Turkey, and have strengthened since.

It’s a harder group than they had last year, that’s for sure. If you swap Salzburg and Dinamo Zagreb for Ajax and Fenerbahçe, then you can see the scale of the task, and then you also have Molde, who have a point to prove.

The current Norwegian champions will be looking to pit their wits against Ronny Deila, so they’ll be motivated.

It’s laced with a lot of challenges, but these are positives. Understandably the Celtic fans were down about Malmo, but it’s time to move on now, and look forward to these tests to come.

The prospect of these games should be mouth-watering to Celtic fans, and I don’t want to hear anybody saying that they can’t be bothered with the tournament. What else have they got to do?

Champions League draw throws up some cracking ties

THE Champions League draw has thrown up some cracking ties once again.

The section that stands out for me as the most difficult to progress from is Group D, containing Juventus, Manchester City, Sevilla and Borussia Monchengladbach.

Manchester City are probably going to be thinking that someone up there doesn’t like them, because they always seem to end up playing against some top sides.

That being said, you would probably make City and Juve favourites to go through, but it’s a tough group.

Sevilla have won the Europa League two years in a row now and are a very good side.

I also see a lot of Borussia Monchengladbach from covering the Bundesliga, and they are no mugs. It will be a new experience for many of their players, but they’ll take points from that group I’m quite sure.

Bayern against Arsenal will be interesting, but I would probably expect those two as well as Manchester United and Chelsea to progress from their groups.

There are some other great individual matches, with Real Madrid and Paris Saint Germain together in Group A, a real clash of the big-spenders.

Somewhere along the line you’re going to get a shock as well, and a team we all expect to progress won’t.

That’s been made more likely by Uefa rewarding the champions of the leading leagues under the co-efficient system with top-seeded status. I quite like the fact that they have done this.

It’s made it a bit more interesting and it should be a bit less of a procession for some of the established clubs.

Whatever happens, the Champions League is always full of stories and most of the best players in the world will be taking part again. I, like many of you I suspect, can’t wait to take in the action.