Celtic skipper Scott Brown not happy with playing surface at Celtic Park

The Hoops were second best in the 2-0 loss to the Spanish side in the first leg in Glasgow last week but were more than holding their own in the return game until the 37th minute, when German right-back Jeremy Toljan, on loan from Borussia Dortmund, was sent off for picking up the second of two bookings.

The 10-man Hoops remained calm and organised but were undone in the 70th minute by a goal from substitute Kevin Gameiro which gave the home side a 3-0 aggregate win.

In January Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers revealed the Celtic Park’s new pitch has been struck down by a “slight disease”, and after a gruelling 90 minutes in Spain, midfielder Brown made his own comparisons.

He said: “We played really well, played proper football on a proper football pitch, and until the sending off we were the better team, creating chances, and we just didn’t get the ball in the back of the net.

“The first performance back at Celtic Park wasn’t good enough but then again you look at the difference of the pitches.

“Their pitch was incredible and we knocked the ball about really well. Celtic Park is not so good just now.

“Hopefully our pitch gets better and we go on a good run in the league now.

“We spent a lot of money on the park and it is not up to the standard that we want it to be.

“We don’t want AstroTurf pitches, we want proper pitches.

“But we need to make sure we’re looking after the pitches and we have the best quality pitches for the SPFL so there is good football and it is not just kick and hope. The pitch need sorted.”