Celtic’s Europa League campaign began with a home defeat on Wednesday night, beaten 3-1 by Ferencvaros at Celtic Park in their league-phase opener.
Key moments
Ferencvaros took the lead in the 20th minute when Bamidele Yusuf’s shot deflected in off Celtic defender Liam Scales for an own goal. Celtic drew level right at the end of the first half, Mika Baur equalising in the 44th minute to make it 1-1. The turnaround either side of the interval was rapid: Kristoffer Zachariassen restored Ferencvaros’s lead in first-half stoppage time, and Daniel Arzani added a third just two minutes into the second half. Sky Sports’ match report attributed the defeat to defensive errors, pointing to mistakes involving Kieran Tierney and Callum McGregor.
What it means
The result leaves Celtic on 0 points from their opening league-phase match, while Ferencvaros start with a win and 3 points. In the Europa League’s 36-team league-phase format, that puts real pressure on Celtic’s remaining seven matches if they want to finish inside the places that guarantee a route into the knockout stages. Ferencvaros, by contrast, have the best possible start to their campaign.
Looking ahead
Confirmed details of both clubs’ next Europa League league-phase fixtures were not independently verifiable at the time of writing. Celtic’s focus in the short term will be on responding domestically before their next continental outing.
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