CELTA VIGO BEAT CELTIC AT PARKHEAD

Celta Vigo beat Celtic 2-1 at Parkhead after Javi Rodriguez scored twice in three minutes in the second half. Mika Baur had put Celtic ahead just over a minute after the restart. Rodriguez equalised with a header before scoring again with a drive. The result gave Celtic a third successive defeat in the Europa League league phase and left them with no points from their opening three matches.

Celtic had lost their first two league phase fixtures against Ferencvaros and Benfica. Baur is a Germany midfielder, while Rodriguez is a Spain international. Match figures put Celtic’s goals tally at three scored and nine conceded across the three defeats. The same figures record 62 shots against Celtic in those matches, an average of more than 20 per game. Celtic entered the Celta Vigo fixture seeking their first three points of the campaign.

The Europa League table places Celtic 35th among 36 teams after three matches. Five league phase fixtures remain. Celtic manager Martin O’Neill said his side had to “find a way” to win in Europe after the Celta Vigo defeat. Baur gave his own assessment: “Maybe Celtic aren't capable of winning Europa League games at the moment.”