Celtic will not be completing the domestic treble in Scotland in the 2026/27 campaign after they were knocked out of the League Cup on Sunday afternoon.

The Hoops were beaten 3-0 by their city rivals Rangers at Ibrox in the quarter-finals of the competition, which is only their second loss in all competitions this season.

Martin O'Neill's attention will quickly turn to the first game of the Europa League campaign on Thursday night when Ferencvaros come to Parkhead.

He will have plenty of things to take away from the defeat to their rivals on Sunday, because his side did not do enough on or off the ball throughout the match.

How Celtic lost to Rangers on Sunday

The truth of the matter is that the Hoops looked a mile off the pace from the off, as the Rangers players looked faster and sharper in the opening stages, which set the tone for the rest of the game.

Instead of one or two players letting O'Neill down with individual mistakes, most of the away side did not look up for the fight in the quarter-final clash this weekend.

The space that the Rangers players had, as evidenced in both of Dan Neil's goals, was because Celtic's players did not react quickly enough to situations to close down spaces and force the home side wide or backwards.

Neil was allowed to run the show for the home team because he was given the space that he needed to work his magic, particularly for his two well-taken goals on the edge of the area.

O'Neill needs to ensure that his team are not as slow to close down their opponents when Ferencvaros come to Glasgow on Thursday, otherwise they may suffer the same fate.

Embarrassed by Dan Neil: O'Neil must drop Celtic flop

One of the reasons why Neil was able to dominate in the middle of the park was because one of Celtic's players played their worst game for the club to date.

O'Neill decided to line the team up with Callum McGregor and Mika Baur in the double pivot in midfield, with Benjamin Nygren ahead of them in the number ten role.

Unfortunately, they got nowhere near the likes of Neil, Nicolas Raskin, and James Penrice, who inverted into midfield, and that meant that the home side gained too much control of the game.

Baur, in particular, did not do enough to get out to Neil for either of the English midfielder's goals, as he failed to sense the danger on the edge of the box and dropped too deep into the box.

The German star has been a fantastic addition to the squad since his £6.8m move from Paderborn over the summer transfer window, but he did not step up to the plate against Rangers.

Baur was unable to influence the game in possession because of the high press that the Gers deployed with a front two of Ryan Naderi and Kevin Kelsy, who were constantly pressing and preventing Celtic from playing out.

His work off the ball, though, was the most disappointing aspect of his performance because he could not get near the Rangers players, and Neil, in particular.

The Gers captain got the better of the German midfielder too many times, including for his two goals, and that was because of how slow he was to react to defensive situations.

That was surprising, though, because his defensive play in the Scottish Premiership has been sublime, averaging 3.6 tackles and interceptions per match, whilst winning 56% of his ground duels and 50% of his aerial battles.

Baur, who scored the winning goal against St. Johnstone last time out in the league, has also provided quality on the ball in the league, creating two chances per game on average.

Even in the loss to LASK on aggregate in the Champions League, Baur won five of his eight ground duels and was only dribbled past once in two appearances.

Therefore, his performance against Rangers was his worst in a Celtic shirt to date, due to his struggles on and off the ball, and that is why O'Neill should drop him against Ferencvaros on Thursday.