IT is always nice to be asked to the party and it is even better when you are seated next to the guests of honour. But if the day ever arrives when the invitations stop then Scottish clubs really could have no complaints.

When it comes to European football, we just don’t bring anything to the table these days. Not at the highest level, at least.

Celtic got a golden ticket to the Champions League doo this season and celebrated so much that Roy Keane ‘thought they’d actually won the thing’. Making the group stages is one thing, but belonging there is quite another.

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And right now, Celtic, like so many other clubs in the competition, just don’t. The Champions League may not be just for the champions, but it is a select few that drive it, both on and off the park.

It is Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, the clubs that are on a different level and, as events in the Nou Camp last week proved, play a different game to the one that we see week in week out in the Premiership.

The top brass from Scotland and the other unfashionable leagues across the continent - the likes of Holland, Belgium and Scandinavia - are joining forces to take the fight to the big boys in an attempt to preserve their pathway to Europe’s premier club competition.

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They decry the elite clubs for only chasing the cash but then focus on the financial benefits they could reap if they were allowed their foot in the door. In Celtic’s case, it is around £25million this season, just in case you hadn’t heard.

No matter how many hands are shaken and conversations are held in the corridors of power about preserving the ‘Champions Route’, results like those that Brendan Rodgers’ side suffered last week add weight to the case for a prosecution that will happy send us down.

On the same night, Bayern eased to a 5-0 win over FC Rostov and on Wednesday Dortmund won 6-0 against Legia Warsaw. Last term, Real Madrid took eight off Malmo.

Every season you hear fans say that they don’t tune in until the latter stages when it is Goliath versus Goliath. The Davids, the likes of Club Brugge or Dinamo Zagreb, can’t compete in the fight, and neither can Scottish sides anymore.

Clubs the size of Celtic and Rangers shouldn’t be Euro tourists that welcome the star names and just marvel at them. They are institutions in their own right, but can’t, and shouldn’t be expected to, compete at that level anymore unfortunately.

There seemed to be a shrug of the shoulders and an acceptance in some quarters in the aftermath of Celtic’s collapse in Catalonia. Yes, Barca are very good, but Celtic were very poor.

For a club with a proud European history, it was an embarrassing performance on a night that showed the gulf between the best Scotland has to offer and the level that our clubs once aspired to reach. Those days are long gone, and we may never get them back.

So why should we still try? If the Europa League, or whatever form the secondary tier of Euro action will take in the future, is our level, then why don’t we just settle for that and know our place?

The biggest clubs in the world don’t need us and will, nine times out of ten, give our teams a doing without breaking sweat. It isn’t competition and it isn’t entertaining.

So if they want to breakaway and play each other every week and make billions from television deals, just let them get on with it. They are happy and we can be content with our lot.

Celtic are a Champions League club but a Europa League team. One day, the same will be said again about Rangers.

Yes, it is not in the nature of football and it is not the game we all grew up with and love. But the Corinthian spirit is long gone. It is sad, but it is reality.

One day, the Champions League invitations will stop. Maybe it will be for the best, though. Let’s make other friends and go to a different party instead.