Gordon Strachan last night lamented Celtic’s shocking 2-1 defeat to Aalborg in Denmark, a result that not only extended the club’s wretched winless away streak in the Champions League to 20 matches but also ended Celtic’s involvement in European football this season.

Strikes by Caca, Aalborg’s 26-year-old Brazilian, and a Gary Caldwell own goal with three minutes remaining rounded off a calamitous night for Strachan, who had hoped at the very least to secure a consolation Uefa Cup spot from group E. That, however, has now gone to Aalborg after this freezing and depressing experience for Celtic.

The fact that the Scottish champions have now claimed just one point from a possible 54 in group-stage matches on the road over the past six years presents its own mystery. But it was last night’s more immediate disappointment that most frustrated Strachan.

“The game was there for us,” the Celtic manager said. “But it is our inability to keep a clean sheet that is our downfall. Until we get that sorted, it won’t be possible. It looked possible for us on the night, but it didn’t happen. Everything was in place for us. We had some superb performances — Scott Brown, Barry Robson — and we didn’t feel we faced any real danger at the back. So I can’t explain it, except to say that our inability to keep a clean sheet over these last three years — and here again tonight — has been our downfall.”

The occasion was all the more galling for Strachan and Celtic, given the number of chances they created — and missed. The Scottish champions threw away a clutch of opportunities, with Shunsuke Nakamura and Georgios Samaras being especially culpable. “We couldn’t take our chances,” Strachan said. “The players must feel it far more than me — they are the ones who were running around out there making chances.

“We had it in our hands to win but we couldn’t do it. We did think that one goal tonight would be enough, and I didn’t see any real threat. So that is why it is all the more disappointing.

“But we think we are a big club, so you have to deal with both victory and defeat. You have to handle it. You have to take these things on the chin. Unfortunate things have happened to us but I am not going to try to make out that Aalborg were lucky, because that wouldn’t be right. There are just some games where you feel you deserve better.”

Of Celtic’s wretched away record in the Champions League, the Celtic manager was blunt and to the point.

“I’ve said to the players — we’ve put ourselves in this position, but it just goes on and on, and only we can deal with it,” he said. “But, after tonight’s performance, I can’t really can’t criticise my players. Like I say, sometimes you feel you deserve better.”

Allan Kuhn, the Aalborg coach, was euphoric at his club’s win, and celebrated it later by using language more suited to Scottish clubs. “What can you say after a match like that?” Kuhn said. “In the first half we were not very good, but in the second half we got better. My team really were bravehearts tonight.”