Celtic

Amy Canavan
BBC Sport Scotland

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It wasn't the draw Celtic wanted to be in, but they have emerged from the Europa League supercomputer with a relatively kind result.

Without doubt, the toughest task will be at the Estadio da Luz when the Scottish champions travel to Benfica.

In Portugal, Marco Silva's side dismantled Hearts in qualifying, but they did draw at Tynecastle - though the tie was never in any doubt by then.

While it's one of the trickiest away trips Celtic could have booked from pot one, they are rewarded with a nicer home tie against French outfit Marseille.

Fifth in Ligue 1 last season and captained by ex-Celt Timo Weah, they are a much more winnable tie than the likes of Bayer Leverkusen, AC Milan or Juventus.

Pot two - where Celtic were placed - brought the return of Ferencvaros to Glasgow. Under Robbie Keane, who quit this summer, they failed to win the league last season and had to navigate four rounds of qualifying to get here.

Like Celtic, though, Union St-Gilloise dropped into this competition after failing in their Champions League play-off, losing after extra-time against Bodo/Glimt.

Two seasons ago, they were surprise winners of the Belgian Pro League - under the stewardship of new Scotland head coach Sebastian Pocognoli - while they also use the same Jamestown Analytics data company as Hearts.

Into pot three, a former Celtic defender will return to Parkhead. Carl Starfelt and Celta Vigo finished sixth in La Liga last season, earning automatic qualification to this stage. A club, of course, Martin O'Neill faced on the way to the Uefa Cup final in 2003.

It's a tie Celtic would have preferred at home, while the away trip is to Omonia Nicosia in Cyprus. Yep, Neil Lennon's former club.

The Cypriot First Division winners were knocked out of the Champions League second qualifying round by Kairat Almaty - again, yep - but got past Lincoln Red Imps and STVV to secure Europa League football.

As names go in pot four, Besiktas are arguably the biggest. Celtic will be delighted they don't need to travel to Turkey for that one.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's previous club had to navigate three qualifying rounds and were helped along the way by former Rangers player, Vaclav Cerny.

While the Turkish heavyweights need no introduction, Torreense maybe do.

The Portuguese Cup winners join an exclusive group of second division clubs to play in European competitions after sensationally defeating Sporting CP in last season's final.

From a town 25 miles north of Lisbon, Torres Vedras, their 2,500-seater home stadium does not meet Uefa's requirement and so will play their matches 193 miles away at the Estadio Algarve in Faro.

Marseille and Benfica are among Celtic's opponents in this season's Europa League.

The Parkhead club will host Marseille, Ferencvaros, Celta Vigo and Besiktas in the league phase.

And Celtic's away games are against Benfica, Union St-Gilloise, Omonia of Cyprus and Portuguese second-tier side Torreense.

Celtic fans, what do you make of the draw? Can Martin O'Neill's men progress to the knockout rounds?

Share your thoughts here.

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• Celtic have won their past nine league games. Only twice before under Martin O'Neill have they won 10+ in a row: a run of 14 from August to December 2001, and 25 from August 2003 to February 2004.

• Falkirk have lost 17 of their past 19 away games at Celtic in all competitions (D2) since a 2-0 victory in October 1994 under Jim Jefferies.

• Celtic have won 16 of their past 18 meetings with Falkirk in all competitions (D2) since a 1-0 defeat in March 2007, winning their last nine in a row. Only from March 1950 to August 1954 have the Hoops ever won 10 in a row versus the Bairns.

• In their last league outing against Kilmarnock, Celtic fired in 33 shots, the most by any side in a Scottish Premiership game since Rangers against Kilmarnock in May 2024 (41), and the Hoops' most in a league fixture since December 2023 (38 v Dundee).

• Falkirk have lost their past 13 league games against reigning Scottish champions by an aggregate score of 39-4 since a 1-0 win over Celtic in March 2007.

• Benjamin Nygren has scored in both of his Premiership games this season. The last players to score in Celtic's first three matches of a league campaign were James Forrest and Scott Sinclair in 2016-17.

• Falkirk are the only side without a goal in the 2026-27 Premiership, amassing a league-low xG of just 1.1 so far.

• Kasper Hogh is the only player to have attempted 10+ shots in the top flight this season (13), scoring a hat-trick against Kilmarnock last time out. He had nine shots in that game, the most by a Celtic player in a single league match since Liel Abada's 10 against St Johnstone in December 2021.

Celtic have agreed a deal for Hajduk Split and Canada midfielder Niko Sigur. (Lukasz Gikiewicz on X, external)

Although Genk have emerged as late contenders for Sigur's signature and have bid €4m. (24 Sata - in Croatian, external)

Wolves goalkeeper Sam Johnstone, 33, is a target for Celtic. (Daily Mail, external)

Read the rest of Friday's Scottish gossip.

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Scotland star John McGinn says he was "desperate" to join Celtic in the summer of 2018 before eventually leaving Hibernian for Aston Villa.

Midfielder McGinn has established himself as a key Premier League figure for Villa, becoming club captain and winning the Europa League last season, leaving Celtic to rue what might have been.

The 31-year-old grew up as a Celtic supporter and his grandfather Jack was the club's chairman from 1986 to 1991.

Celtic had multiple bids turned down by Hibs and McGinn believes there was a degree of complacency in the way the Parkhead club approached the transfer.

"If he wasn't my grandpa and I wasn't a Celtic fan, I probably would be a Celtic player," McGinn told The Overlap podcast., external

"They felt because I was a Celtic fan, it would just happen. Nobody else would come in and Hibs would crumble.

"Hibs were amazing. They said 'We're not going to stand in your way, but they need to pay us what you're worth.'

"I gave them my word that I'd wait until they pay what I worth and it never got there. It was two or three million.

"They actually phoned my grandpa to try to influence me, but he had a good relationship with both sides. He trusted me and my agent and he said 'It's nothing to do with me, if you've got the money, pay the money.'

"It went on for months. I met Brendan [Rodgers]. I was desperate to go to Celtic."

Kheredine Idessane
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

When does a problem become chronic? When it happens half a dozen times in a row?

Celtic's failure to negotiate Champions League qualifying has now cursed them six times in succession. LASK of Austria join a list that comprises Kairat Almaty, Midtjylland, Ferencvaros, Cluj and AEK Athens.

With the possible exception of the Greeks, all clubs Celtic should expect to beat. That they couldn't speaks to something structurally or strategically wrong at the club.

At that frequency, these are not accidents or freaks of nature. Very far from it.

If you have cash reserves at the bank, would you not be better investing some of it early enough to give you a fighting chance of recouping it from Uefa's land of milk and honey?

Or do you wait to see what European competition you're playing in before spending any money you haven't already taken in from player sales?

It's the kind of 'rinse and repeat' that has Celtic fans tearing their hair out. It was the same scenario a year ago when Brendan Rodgers was crying out for reinforcements. None came, of any great note, until after the Kairat catastrophe.

Of course, it's not that Celtic don't spend money. They do. By the tens of millions every summer. How and when they spend it has been the problem.

It tends to be balanced against assets sold. Acquire £25m for Kieran Tierney? Spend it. Bank similar sums for Jota and Matt O'Riley, sanction similar cheques. Move on Daizen Maeda and Arne Engels? Bring in Camilo Duran, Kasper Hogh, Mika Baur and Haissem Hassan. Good, solid business.

Except for one thing. When the biggest games of your season routinely happen in mid-August, do you not need to have spent even bigger, if the money is available, to maximise your Champions League chances?

It's the speed and scope of Celtic's recruitment that seems consistently to let them down, rather than the amount of money spent.

Martin O'Neill's new deal was agreed in early June, before the transfer window opened on the 15th. Celtic therefore had two months to get players in before the Champions League play-off signing deadline.

They brought in four. None of them in a depleted defence, nor a defensive-minded midfielder to compensate for the loss of Arne Engels and Paulo Bernardo.

Celtic look fairly well set in forward areas but wide open at the back. Hence LASK helping themselves to an extraordinary 60 shots in two games.

As it did a year ago, the club's decision not to get the bulk of their transfer business done early enough has blown up in their face.

And with the route into the competition becoming ever more difficult from next summer when three rounds need to be negotiated by the Premiership winners, when will Celtic play Champions League football again?

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Hearts couldn't resist a thinly-veiled dig at Celtic after heroically sealing a place in the Conference League.

By overcoming play-off opponents Rapid Vienna on penalties despite Tomas Magnusson's 76th-minute red card, the Tynecastle side succeeded in a country where Celtic had failed the previous evening.

Celtic, having pipped Hearts to the Premiership title on the final day last season, are reeling from squandering a four-goal lead at LASK to tumble out of the Champions League.

As Hearts put it in their social media post: "Winning play-offs in Austria isn't for everyone..."

Red Bull Salzburg have emerged as a possible destination for Torino and Lithuania midfielder Gvidas Gineitis, who is a long-time Celtic target. (Sportal - in Italian, external)

And Celtic's asking price for Japan midfielder Reo Hatate, 28, has dropped. (Daily Record, external)

Read the rest of Thursday's Scottish gossip.

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Celtic goalkeeper Viljami Sinisalo says squandering the chance to qualify for the Champions League is "probably the toughest moment of our careers" for the squad.

Martin O'Neill's side were on the wrong end of a remarkable LASK comeback as the Austrians rallied from a four-goal deficit to inflict one of Celtic's worst-ever defeats.

Sinisalo saved an extra-time penalty to give his side a glimmer of hope in the final minutes, but they never looked likely to force penalties.

The Finland international revealed the Celtic dressing-room was a scene of shocked silence post match.

"Obviously it's raw, I'm kind of speechless," the Finland international said.

"It's very hard for me to come here and explain that. I'll try and explain it because I don't think the people coming here deserve that [result].

"Obviously it's unacceptable and we're all speechless about what's just happened.

"I walked into a changing room that was silent, together, but it's a tough moment for everyone.

"Individually and collectively, probably the toughest moment of our careers.

"The only way of getting over that is sticking together and going again on Saturday. People don't necessarily want to hear that, I would hate to be hearing that if I was a fan, but ultimately that's the reality."

Sinisalo denied Celtic were guilty of complacency after winning the first leg 3-0.

"What we've done there, we can't do anything about it any more. I don't think it's complacency, no," he added.

"They get one at a crucial time for them, which kind of shifts the momentum, and it's a funny game, football.

"I could come here and give you all sorts of explanations and ultimately, if I was a fan trying to listen to players after that, I wouldn't listen."

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Former Celtic captain Paul Lambert has criticised the team's "ludicrous decision-making" in their humiliating Champions League exit to LASK.

Celtic were 4-0 up on aggregate after Callum McGregor's opener in Austria before a slack pass from Benjamin Nygren allowed the hosts to narrow the deficit.

The Austrian champions - who had 40 shots in the second leg compared to Celtic's eight - then capitalised on the visitors' second-half capitulation to win the tie 5-4 after extra time.

Lambert, who played under manager Martin O'Neill during the manager's first spell, told BBC Scotland: "If you look over the two games the better team won.

"I don't think Celtic helped themselves. Some of the decision-making on the field was ludicrous from Celtic's point of view. The first goal, it's incredible how they gave that away."

After the game, O'Neill took responsibility for the defeat but Lambert suggested the players weren't doing the "fundamentals" correctly.

"I worked under the manager for five years and the one thing he demanded is that you get close to people," he said.

"If you're not stopping a cross or putting tackles in, that's the fundamentals of football."

Celtic signed four players - Kasper Hogh, Camilo Duran, Mika Baur and Haissem Hassan - before the play-off but Lambert suggested the squad was still underprepared.

"You'd have to live on the moon not knowing those two games are coming up," he added.

"O'Neill would demand players that would be ready made for this team, not developing players.

"They need ready-made players as getting into the Champions League is getting more and more difficult. They need to watch that they don't become a Conference League team.

"A lot of the players have had it their own way for a lot of years. It's when things like this happen you need people to step up and really take it on the chin.

"I know how the manager works, I know how he thinks, and he'll take responsibility to relieve the pressure on the players. But those players have to look at themselves as well and say 'We didn't do enough.'"

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Celtic are set to lose out on around £25m following their Champions League capitulation against LASK.

They can recoup some of those losses with a strong showing in the Europa League, but that is far from certain given they failed to reach the last 16 of the tournament last season.

Qualification for the Champions League proper is worth a flat rate of £15.9m, a fair whack more than the Europa League fee of £3.7m. The club will also bank a similar amount for their participation in the Champions League play-offs, meaning they are about £8.5m worse off as a starting point.

When it comes to broadcast income, the Champions League offers four-and-a-half times the pool of money available compared to the Europa League.

The final payouts depend on the country's broadcasting value, the number of clubs competing from each country, and clubs' recent performances in Europe.

Each place above the bottom in the Champions League is worth £830,000 more than the Europa League. However, Celtic will likely be higher up the table in the Europa League than the Champions League and the difference from the past two campaigns was only about £2m less in the lower competition.

Performance bonuses are where the real Champions League money can be made, with again roughly four-and-a-half times the amount of performance-related payments on offer as opposed to the Europa League.

A Champions League win is worth £1.8m while a draw banks £600,000 - the equivalent figures in the Europa League are about £390,000 and £130,000.

Celtic finished 21st in the past two seasons, both in the Champions League and Europa League, so based on recent results and another 21st-placed finish, they face losing out on about £5m in results and £4m in league-table bonuses.

In total, the Hoops could realistically lose about £10m in performance-related income, although they have the chance to limit the difference with a strong performance in the Europa League. The difference in reaching the last 16 in each competition is more than £8m.

In terms of gate receipts, Celtic charged £44 more for an adult four-match Champions League package two years ago than they did for the subsequent Europa League campaign. The difference in hospitality packages was greater. The difference across the stadium would work out at about £3.3m based on another five-game campaign.

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"It was embarrassing. We've become a laughing stock of world football."

Paul Brennan, of Celtic Quick News, external, echoed the thoughts of many Celtic fans the morning after the Champions League exit to LASK.

When Callum McGregor drove home the opener in Linz to make the aggregate score 4-0, Martin O'Neill's side were cruising towards the league phase.

Five head-spinning LASK goals later, Celtic were consigned to the Europa League on a night of infamy.

Where does the defeat rank in Celtic's worst-ever European results? Brennan, speaking to BBC Radio Scotland, was "hard pushed to recall anything that's clearly worse than this". Do you agree? Let us know via this link.

And here's a reminder of some of Celtic's most disappointing European results...

MTK Budapest 4 Celtic 0: European Cup Winners' Cup, 1963-64

Celtic looked set their first European final after a double from Stevie Chalmers and a Jimmy Johnstone strike gave them a three-goal first-leg lead. But Hungary international Karoly Sandor produced a masterclass to help turn the tie around.

Neuchatel Xamax 5 Celtic 1: Uefa Cup 1991-92

The Swiss side stunned Liam Brady's men with four goals inside the first 55 minutes before defender Brian O'Neil pulled one back. But Hossan Hassan's fourth goal of the game sent Celtic on their way to a 5-2 aggregate defeat.

Artmedia Bratislava 5 Celtic 0: Champions League qualifier, 2005-06

Gordon Strachan endured a disastrous start to his Celtic reign as Juraj Halenar netted a hat-trick for the Slovakians. Aiden McGeady missed a sitter at 2-0 and the deficit proved too much as Celtic won 4-0 in the second leg.

Utrecht 4 Celtic 0: Europa League play-off, 2010-11

Celtic's 2-0 first-leg advantage was wiped out in a seven-minute spell in which Ricky van Wolfswinkel netted twice from the penalty spot, and the future Norwich striker completed his hat-trick early in the second half. Barry Maguire, a Dutchman with a Celtic-supporting Irish father, completed the rout.

Lincoln Red Imps 1 Celtic 0: Champions League qualifier, 2016-17

Another calamitous managerial debut befell Brendan Rodgers. Poor defending from Efe Ambrose allowed Lee Casciaro to score two minutes after the break as Gibraltar's semi-professional champions inflicted arguably the most embarrassing result in Celtic's history. Rodgers' side recovered to win the second leg 3-0 and reach the Champions League.

Barcelona 7 Celtic 0: Champions League, 2016-17

A Lionel Messi hat-trick helped consign Celtic to a record European defeat and they have since gone down 7-1 against both Paris St-Germain and Borussia Dortmund and 6-0 to Atletico Madrid.

Kairat Almaty 0 Celtic 0: Champions League play-off, 2025-26

There is a lengthy list of recent Champions League qualification failures but last season's stands out given its self-inflicted nature. The club had failed to sign a proven striker to replace Kyogo Furuhashi following his £10m move to Rennes seven months earlier and drew a blank over 210 minutes against Kazakhstan's champions before losing on penalties.

Alasdair Lamont
BBC Sport Scotland in Linz

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Celtic midfielder Mika Baur has stressed the need for the squad to stick together in adversity and look forward to the consolation prize of the Europa League.

The 22-year-old German started both legs against LASK - his first starts for the club - but like most of his team-mates, was considerably less impressive as Celtic blew a four-goal advantage to lose 5-4 after extra time to miss out on Champions League football.

Baur acknowledged afterwards this was one of the toughest moments of his short career.

"Yeah, it is, but I really try to be sad at the moment and today. But we still play Europa League," he said.

"We still have a lot going on in Scotland. So yeah, we need to move on tomorrow, stay together, and we need to come back and try better on Saturday.

"We had a really tough day, we lost a big match, but we have to move on. We need to stay together even closer than before. It's a tough time now but I think the team is capable."

Martin O'Neill said after the game he took full responsibility for the outcome, but Baur admitted the players also needed to accept criticism.

"I think everybody should start by himself. So even me, every player needs to ask himself, did I do everything right? And to be able to see what he has to do better," he said.

"Before the match and also the days before, everybody was really clear on what we had to do. We spoke about that."

Baur had also spoken before the match about how the lure of Champions League football had been part of the reason he joined from Paderborn.

"I'm still very, very happy with the decision," he said afterwards.

"I know and I hope I will have a great time here. I still had two incredible weeks now and I'm looking forward to everything that's coming next.

"I'm still very, very happy with this decision to come here to Celtic."

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Stiliyan Petrov on Amazon Prime: "You have to stand up and be counted, show character, be able to deal with the pressure. Those players were hiding.

"When they had to take responsibility with the ball, they didn't. They were losing the ball very easily. LASK were better in second balls, more aggressive. They wanted it more.

"Celtic try to dominate games and be in control. But there was nothing there. They couldn't take the sting out the game, they couldn't slow the game down.

"Sometimes you need big players to do that. You need players to control that, control the team. You have to stand up, be brave and be strong.

"You have to run more, you have to close people down, you have to make decisions on the pitch, important decisions and important moments that make the difference. Those decisions were not there."

Former Celtic captain and manager Neil Lennon on Amazon Prime: "Physically they weren't up to it, running power they weren't up to it. LASK were the better team and they wanted it more, and that's not something you can say about a Martin O'Neill team very often.

"Second half I saw three or four players go down with cramp. It's only 65-70 minutes into the game. That's a worry for me.

"It could be a physical thing, it could be a psychological thing. For me it's a sign of not being strong. They looked exhausted at times."

Former Celtic captain Scott Brown on BBC Radio Scotland: "I don't think the subs made any impact on the game. You want something from them - running power, a bit of calmness on the ball - and we didn't get that.

"They are bringing players in that are actually in the starting 11 but it shows you, on that bench, they need better quality players to come on."

Former Celtic goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel on Amazon Prime: "This is going to have huge ramifications. The Champions League is unique and the Europa League doesn't have the same prestige. It impacts players' lives and particularly the players that maybe we were looking to sign, that could have an impact on it.

"I know it's going to be a really, really hard reaction towards the players, towards the management.

"It's going to be a monumental task for them to motivate themselves and to get the fans back on side. Because you saw at the end, it wasn't pleasant scenes. And we saw what happened last season, it's not pleasant. And it's not pleasant to be a player in that environment either."