CELTIC crashed out of the Europa League last night with a 1-0 defeat against Valencia with Jeremy Toljan sent off in the first half, losing 3-0 on aggregate. The Herald's Alison McConnell has picked out five lessons we can learn from the game in Valencia last night.

Speaking after the match, Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers blamed German referee Deniz Aytekin for killing off Celtic's hopes of progressing to the last 16 of the Europa League by sending off Toljan. Rodgers said: "I thought the referee took the game away from us. That was disappointing. I thought the players came together but I didn’t think it was a second yellow card. That changed the dynamic of the game."

The player ratings are also in from last night, with Oli Burke and Jonny Hayes scoring particularly well for Rodgers' side.

And Hayes has insisted that Celtic will learn the lessons from their Europa League exit – once they have given the domestic campaign their full focus. "It is always enjoyable to be in Europe but at a club this size we want to be even better," said Hayes. "We will concentrate on our domestic season and next time in Europe try to be a bit more prepared."

Rangers supporters are set to receive just half of the 20-per-cent share that the Scottish FA rules say all away sides are entitled to for next month’s William Hill Scottish Cup quarter final tie against Aberdeen – because of safety certificate regulations over segregation at Pittodrie. A club source said: "The rules say that the visiting team are entitled to up to 20 per cent except if the safety certificate doesn’t allow it – and it doesn’t."

Rangers boss Steven Gerrard hopes Scottish football can rid itself of the abuse and misbehaviour from supporters that tarnishes the reputation of the game after two high-profile incidents of sectarianism in recent days. Gerrard said: "Of course I’ve been aware of it. Individuals and small minorities at certain stadiums let themselves down unfortunately. As a club we want to eradicate that type of stuff from the terraces. That’s all I’ve got to say on it."

And Gerrard has insisted that he won't give up on Rangers' title bid until it is mathematically impossible for the Ibrox club to win the Premiership. "You have that hope and a chance to get back into it," said Gerrard. "We have Hamilton and Dundee in the week and the challenge is to take maximum points and see what happens elsewhere."

James Dornan, the SNP MSP for Glasgow Cathcart, has written to the CEOs of the SFA, the SPFL, Celtic and Rangers to renew calls for strict liability in Scottish football following comments made by Kilmarnock manager Steve Clarke. Dornan said: "There is no place for Sectarianism in any corner of Scottish society; and while many third sector, private and educational organisations are working hard to tackle this issue there is no doubt Scottish football must do the same."

Meanwhile, the Herald's Graeme McGarry has argued that Scottish football's 'endless cycle' of bigotry will not come to an end until fans and clubs stop engaging in whataboutery about the other side.

Aberdeen midfielder Lewis Ferguson insists there is no bad blood between him and Allan McGregor after the pair's altercation that led to the Rangers goalkeeper being suspended for two matches. Ferguson said: "I’ve tackled like that in my career when I was playing in the development league. I’ve put in bad tackles but you move on from it. People were always asking me about it, but it’s football, it happens."

Hearts manager Craig Levein thinks that a better geographical spread of referees in Scottish football would ease the intense pressure and scrutiny on the game’s embattled officials. Levein said: "When you look at the referees, they have 12 associations and seven FIFA’s refs –  five from Glasgow and two from Lanarkshire. The FIFA refs get all the big games, therefore they will get the Old Firm games and that means they live in and around the same areas as those supporters live."

Ex-Rangers winger Neil McCann says that his old club will eventually "cash in" on Alfredo Morelos after hailing the Colombian as the complete striker. McCann said: "Without being disrespectful to Rangers, they’ll cash in on this guy because a lot of teams will be looking at his goal-scoring exploits. He's got everything for me."

Hibernian defender Paul Hanlon has said that his new boss Paul Heckingbottom has a tremendous attention to detail that should stand the Leith club in good stead going forward. "I'd say out of the managers I've had, he pays the most attention to detail – every small factor," said Hanlon. "In terms of analysis, this is definitely the most we've worked."

Motherwell manager Stephen Robinson has revealed that the crop of young playters coming through at Fir Park recently have no fear of Celtic, which will only help when the two sides meet this weekend. Robinson said: "They don’t have loads of respect and I mean that in the best possible way. They just go there and try to play football."

St Mirren striker Duckens Nazon has attempted to beat Cristiano Ronaldo's world record for the highest header recorded in football. The event was held at Braehead and despite trying for 40 minutes, Nazon came up short. Nazon said: "It was nearly impossible."

Elsewhere, Scott Bain has told the Scottish Sun that his team-mates can be proud of their performance at the Mestalla, despite losing the match.

Livingston manager Gary Holt thinks that poor refereeing decisions could one day cost him his job, according to the Daily Record.

And in an interview with the Press and Journal, Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes said that he reckons little progress has been made in tackling sectarianism in Scottish football.