Celtic have mastered the art of collapse in Europe, and they produced another at home on Thursday night.
The Bhoys lost their third straight Europa League fixture on Thursday night, leaving themselves with a massive mountain to climb if they want to progress to the next stage of the competition.
Martin O'Neill's men competed well, it must be said, and it was a very close game between two sides that aren't particularly well matched. Celtic may be a bigger club on paper, but they are not the better team, with Celta currently eighth place in one of the best leagues in the world in LaLiga.
Celta have some real quality, and they showed it during the second half after going behind within two minutes of the restart. Mika Baur scored the opener for the Bhoys, but despite defending solidly for much of the game, the home side came apart when a perfectly delivered free-kick found Javi Rodriguez.
Less than three minutes later, a poor Celtic clearance found its way to Rodriguez at the edge of the box, and the 23-year-old found the net with a superb strike.
It felt inevitable after the first goal, and to concede so quickly was poor from the Bhoys, who just needed to keep the ball and take the sting out of the game for five minutes to reset.
But whether it's a lack of ability to keep the ball in midfield, which certainly is true, or a lack of knowhow in big games, they are unable to stop such situations from spiralling.
Following the second goal, Celta tightened up, defended deep and defended well, giving the Hoops no sight of goal and no space to work with.
Celtic were beaten, and for a third straight time in this competition, meaning they now likely have to accumulate 9-10 points from five games, which include dates with Besiktas and Marseille. It's a tall order, and it's down to yet another collapse, with Celtic also having led at home to Ferencvaros in their first game before blowing it.
Celta are a much better team. Conceding the equaliser is no shame, and it was a truly brilliant free-kick cross. But you can't collapse and concede a second goal after that. Shut up shop, play smartly and get something from the game.
But O'Neill's men cannot manage it. They are masters of the collapse and seem to always find a way to do just that in Europe.
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