"As we live a life of ease, everyone of us has all we need" Yellow Submarine

Celtic's Champions League ambitions could be rent asunder by Villarreal in El Madrigal in a matter of weeks. Such is the terrain in Group E, it is not inconceivable that the Scottish champions could reach the halfway stage without a win to their name.

It makes Wednesday night's faltering display against Aalborg all the more depressing for Gordon Strachan. A manager who spent part of pre-season attempting to rectify a barren away record in Europe's premier competition now faces up to an even more alarming reality. In the club's two biggest games of the season so far, Celtic have been found wanting.

They were humiliated by a renovated Rangers side and frustrated by the hard-working but fundamentally limited Danes. Both instances occurred in what Bruce Rioch described as the "football theatre" of Celtic Park.

It would be unfair to savage Celtic for their ongoing failure to begin the group stages with a victory, even accounting for Aalborg's failure to have a single player represented in the Danish national team. Barry Robson ought to have elected for placement over power, while the ropey match officials also denied Scott Brown a legitimate goal. In such instances, Celtic were merely hostages to fortune.

Strachan, though, is in control of his strongest team and Wednesday night provided further evidence that the best blend of players in his head, on the training field and even the ProZone may not actually be the best where it matters. "One or two did not have a great night" was a diplomatic way of conveying his dissatisfaction.

There are repeat felons who represent a risk to Celtic's future prosperity. Andreas Hinkel, once again, resembles a player not quite cut out for the big stage; an unusual anomaly for Celtic's second most experienced European campaigner behind Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink. There is a difference between experience, in appearance terms, and positive contribution. He almost looks too casual, too pragmatic, to survive Old Firm life. His defensive limitations are well-documented but on Wednesday his distribution was abysmal.

There are other, more complex, issues Strachan will require to address before the visit to Villarreal and the potentially decisive double- header against Manchester United. What, for instance, is Celtic's most productive midfield quartet? He may have joked about it pre-match, but Celtic continue to feel the loss of Neil Lennon. His leadership, reliability and ability to orchestrate those more skilful players in his midst have all been sadly missing despite umpteen pretenders being thrown in. Thomas Gravesen, Massimo Donati, Paul Hartley, Scott Brown, Barry Robson and Marc Crosas have all been used with varying degrees of success in the past few years.

None have mastered the art of protective midfield play. On Wednesday, Robson and Brown were Celtic's preferred pillars but, at this level, they give away possession too easily to be effective. Brown, to his credit, performed with the maturity shown for Scotland against Iceland. Robson, at 29, is simply too old to be taught new tricks. His raw aggression is an asset in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League but, not for the lack of effort, he is too one-dimensional to thrive in the Champions League. As a consequence, he spent large chunks of the game sliding into challenges as he attempted to bore his way through Aalborg, rather than play around them.

Crosas may be young and relatively inexperienced but, unlike those Aalborg players for whom the same could be said, he at least had the benefit of a Barcelona upbringing. Aiden McGeady has borne the brunt of the manager's ire after the 4-2 defeat against Rangers and has been made to suffer with the return of Shaun Maloney. Maloney, bluntly, is more Strachan's type of player; less indulgent, fewer touches and greater interaction with team-mates. It is in times like these McGeady misses the buffer of the late Tommy Burns. He was able to offer reassurance to the player and, simultaneously, reasoned explanation to pacify a vexed manager.

Then there is the striking dilemma. Georgios Samaras deserved his inclusion on the back of a five-goal spree and did everything but score on Wednesday. Scott McDonald is another matter. He enjoyed an unimaginably prolific first season at Celtic, scoring 31 times to make a mockery of his £800,000 transfer fee from Motherwell.

His success has raised two issues: one over his fitness and another over the psychological toll of his feats. Either the new kit is unflattering or the likeable Australian has enjoyed a summer of excess. Like John Hartson before him, maintaining a fighting weight is a full-time occupation. He is evidently not as mobile as last season, which can be partially attributed to a recent muscle injury, but this is also new territory for McDonald. Never before in his career was he expected to score in every game. After last season's phenomenal haul, it is unrealistic to expect him to simply continue from where he left off.

Celtic have a fortnight in which to reinvent themselves, or the consolation of UEFA Cup football could quickly become the new, less thrilling, challenge.