GLASGOW — Celtic are staring at an early Europa League exit after slumping to a timid 2-1 defeat to Celta Vigo, their third loss from three matches in the competition to leave them 35th of 36 teams. Only Ararat-Armenia and an inferior goal difference keep the Scottish champions off the bottom of the table, with Javi Rodriguez striking twice in three minutes to overturn Mika Baur's opener.
Baur swept Celtic in front on 47 minutes after Sunday's 7-1 drubbing of Hearts had suggested Martin O'Neill's side had turned a corner, but they retreated into their shells and paid the price. O'Neill bemoaned marginal moments, pointing to a free-kick not given before the equaliser and a Liam Scales header that flicked the top of the bar at 1-0. "We conceded a free-kick and I thought a second before that we should have had a foul for us," O'Neill said. "They score from the free-kick and it knocks us a little bit. It gave them a bit of momentum." He added: "I think if [Liam] Scales' header goes in to make it 2-0, we get the three points. We've lost three matches now, remarkably we're still in with a chance [of progressing]."
"The performances at this level haven't been good enough," former Scotland attacker James McFadden said on Sportsound. "Celtic are way short." McFadden added: "It seems as though Celtic struggle when there's a bit of adversity. If something goes against them, the confidence drops, their heads drop, they stop playing forward. The ball goes back and across, inviting pressure, and there's no way they take the pressure off. That has been a theme." Former Celtic goalkeeper Pat Bonner was equally blunt: "I don't think Celtic are good enough, individually and collectively, to take on a team that's eighth in La Liga. They moved the ball really well and Celtic couldn't get close to them." Centre-back Scales had by far the most touches of any Celtic player with 121, ahead of Kieran Tierney on 79 and goalkeeper Sam Johnstone on 69, as Baur admitted: "How we played second half, last 30 minutes, we deserved it in the end."
The collapse continues a familiar European pattern. Celtic looked nailed on for the Champions League when they led Austrian champions LASK 4-0 on aggregate in the play-off round, before shipping five goals in 77 minutes to drop into the Europa League. O'Neill's side have now lost their last four European matches, conceding 14 goals in the process — only once before have they done so in the same season, in the 2017-18 Champions League. "We take the lead in the game, if we get the second goal we win the match and it changes the whole dynamic," O'Neill said. "We need to try to find a way to win European games."
Celtic did not regain control or break Celta's momentum after the equaliser, and Baur was at a loss to explain why. "I cannot tell you, sorry," he said. "You should then get control back, hold the ball a bit longer to take the momentum away from them. You should break that." Their next chance to reverse their continental woes comes on 5 November when they host Besiktas, though Bonner warned: "They are not good enough at this level. Celtic are paying big money for some players because the fans are demanding it and then they come in and aren't good enough."