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Champions League qualifiers: Celtic left embarrassed after they lose to part timers Gibraltar

Striker Lee Casciaro, a policeman, took a long ball in his stride, shook off two defenders and beat goalkeeper Craig Gordon, sparking wild celebrations on the stadium's tiny terraces.

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In a sour competitive debut for coach Brendan Rodgers, Celtic suffered an embarrassing 1-0 defeat at Gibraltar's Lincoln Red Imps in the first leg of their Champions League second qualifying round tie on Tuesday.
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Former European champions Celtic suffered an embarrassing 1-0 defeat at Gibraltar's Lincoln Red Imps in the first leg of their Champions League second qualifying round tie on Tuesday, in a sour competitive debut for coach Brendan Rodgers.

Former Liverpool boss Rodgers, who said in the build-up to the match that Celtic would treat the part-timers "as if they were Real Madrid or Barcelona", must have been pinching himself after his side conceded early in the second half. Striker Lee Casciaro, a policeman, took a long ball in his stride, shook off two defenders and beat goalkeeper Craig Gordon with a bouncing shot in the 48th minute, sparking wild celebrations on the stadium's tiny terraces. 

The Red Imps, as Lincoln are known, beat Estonian champions Flora Tallinn 3-2 on aggregate in the first qualifying round, and will play the return leg against the 1967 European Cup winners in Glasgow next Wednesday.
Rodgers joined Celtic on a 12-month rolling contract in May after he was sacked by Liverpool in October.

Red Star Belgrade, European champions in 1991, avoided a similarly embarrassing result thanks to a huge slice of luck after coming from behind to beat Maltese title holders FC Valletta 2-1 away. The Serbian side fell behind to a Federico Falcone volley in the 15th minute and the Argentine striker had a second goal wrongly disallowed for offside shortly afterwards. 

Aleksandar Katai levelled with a delightful lob midway through the second half before setting up substitute Predrag Sikimic to bundle in the winner from close range. Elsewhere, Croatians Dinamo Zagreb celebrated a 2-1 win at Macedonians Vardar Skopje in a Balkan derby played under tight security amid fears of crowd trouble, while Israel's Hapoel Beer Sheva edged Moldovans Sheriff Tiraspol 3-2 at home. 

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