PERHAPS the only thing that Scottish football fans, a more bloodthirsty bunch you would be hard pushed to find anywhere, take greater enjoyment from than seeing their own team succeed in Europe is watching their greatest rivals fail on the continent.
Tens of thousands of Rangers supporters will flock to their new temporary home at Hampden on Tuesday evening and many more will tune in to the action on Premier Sports in the hope that their heroes can overcome Dynamo Kyiv and make it through to the Champions League play-offs.
Yet, followers of other top flight clubs, not least Celtic, will be watching in even larger numbers and keeping their fingers crossed the Govan outfit, who drew 1-1 with their Ukrainian opponents over in Poland in midweek thanks to an injury-time Cyriel Dessers goal, suffer a painful loss and an ignominious not to mention costly exit.
There are times when it seems very much as if punters on these shores enjoy indulging in schadenfreude, wallowing in the pain and misfortune of others, more than they actually do celebrating their own team’s successes.
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It is, and has long been, the nature of what is often the not so beautiful game. The sport here would be diminished greatly if it lost the enmity that exists in the stands on match day, that nasty edge in the atmosphere that is created when two sides whose supporters absolutely despise each other do battle.
Celtic devotees love to see Rangers slip up domestically – and vice versa, it has to be said – because they know that whenever they do it increases their own team’s prospects of lifting silverware enormously.
They are acutely aware just now that if the Ibrox men fall short next week and miss out on a potential £40m windfall – how much it is estimated participants will trouser from the eight games they will play in the new league phase - it will boost the likelihood of them continuing to dominate in this country immeasurably.
Their support for all things Ukraine, which has been pretty high since the Russian invasion back in 2022, is sure to reach new levels in the coming days.
If the snipers had any sense and were capable of taking a more considered long-term view, though, they would be willing James Tavernier and his team mates to perform at their very best in their rematch with Oleksandr Shovkovskyi’s men and progress.
They should, too, be praying that Kilmarnock and St Mirren get the better of Tromso and Brann respectively in their Conference League third qualifying round matches in Norway next Thursday night and that Hearts vanquish either Viktoria Plzen of the Czech Republic or Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih of Ukraine in the Europa League play-off thereafter.
Why should they put their tribal allegiances to one side? Because Scotland is currently staring into a European abyss and it will be hugely beneficial for their own clubs both financially and reputationally down the line if their old adversaries excel. The alternative does really not bear thinking about.
Scottish champions Celtic are currently looking forward to taking on no fewer than eight of the biggest and best clubs in Europe in the Champions League. But that will not be the case next term if, as they are widely tipped to do, they retain their title come May due to this nation dropping to 16th place in the UEFA coefficient rankings.
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If Scotland remain behind the likes of Greece, Denmark, Austria, Israel, Norway and Turkey in the league table in the coming months even worse will follow in the 2026/27 campaign. Only four teams, not five as is currently the case, will qualify and three of those four teams will have to negotiate three qualifying rounds.
Worst of all, the Premiership runners-up will enter the Conference League qualifiers, not the Champions League qualifiers.
Kilmarnock, Rangers and St Mirren have all done their bit for the collective cause in recent days. The draws they recorded against Tromso, Kyiv and Brann added 0.3 to the season point total and took it up to 1.9. Not much, but it was something. If two of the trio go through next week then there will be a jump to 15th spot. A top 12 place is the ultimate objective.
Anyone wanting to keep up to date with this silent war that is being waged would be well advised to follow @scotlandcoeff1 on X (formerly Twitter). Goodness knows your correspondent has to.
In the meantime, they should seriously consider looking at the bigger picture and parking their pettiness for 90 minutes. The future prosperity and international image of Scottish club football depends on our European representatives flourishing going forward. Neither is exactly in rude good health as things stand.
