Celtic's Defensive Frailty Exposed in Europa League Opener
Celtic’s defensive frailty was laid bare again under the Celtic Park lights, as a 3-1 defeat to Ferencvaros turned their Europa League opener into another bruising examination of Martin O’Neill’s new-look side.
Four days after an Old Firm collapse, O’Neill had promised a response. What he got instead was a repeat viewing.
Bright start, brutal punishment
For 15 minutes, Celtic looked alive. James Forrest, hugging the left touchline, played like the clock had been turned back. He teased his full-back, drove at space, and in the eighth minute delivered a perfect cross onto the boot of Camilo Duran. The summer signing took an extra touch, then another. The chance was gone, dragged wide. A warning, not a breakthrough.
Celtic kept the ball, moved Ferencvaros around, and seemed in control. Then, one long ball and a simple cross undid it all.
On 20 minutes, Kieran Tierney misjudged a delivery from the right. The ball dropped to Bamidele Yusuf, whose shot was heading on target anyway before clipping Liam Scales and wrong-footing Viljami Sinisalo. Own goal, 0-1, and Celtic were chasing again.
The pattern was depressingly familiar. A loose shape, slow reactions, and a visiting side that needed no second invitation. Daniel Arzani burned past Cameron Carter-Vickers soon after, forcing Sinisalo into a sharp low save that kept Celtic in it.
At the other end, Haissem Hassan almost turned Forrest’s cross in at the back post, only for Cadu to hack clear. Hassan then teed up Callum McGregor on the edge of the area, but the captain’s effort was deflected wide. Half-chances, nothing more.
Hope, then a hammer blow
Just when the tension inside Celtic Park threatened to turn, Tierney found the moment supporters had been begging for. On 44 minutes, he surged forward and whipped in a superb cross. Mika Baur met it with conviction, crashing his finish high into the net. Celtic Park erupted. Level at last, right on half-time. A lifeline.
It lasted barely a minute.
From the restart, Ferencvaros went straight for the same soft underbelly. Yusuf again isolated Tierney, skipped past him, then drove at McGregor. The Celtic captain hesitated, too slow to clear, and Yusuf pounced, rolling the ball across goal for Kristoffer Zachariassen. A clever flick, past Sinisalo, 2-1. From euphoria to disbelief in seconds.
The boos at the interval weren’t full-throated, but the grumbles were growing. Celtic had hauled themselves back into the game, then handed it away with the kind of naive defending that has already become a theme of their season.
Second-half collapse
Any hope of a reset after the break vanished almost instantly.
Within two minutes of the restart, Celtic coughed up possession cheaply in their own half. Colby Donovan, fresh from his first Scotland call-up this week, was caught out as Ferencvaros swarmed. The ball broke to Arzani on the edge of the box. One touch to set, one swing of his left boot, and the ball flew into the top corner. A ruthless, stunning finish. Another Celtic disaster. 3-1, and the air went out of the stadium.
From there, the Hungarians didn’t need to overextend. They sat, waited, and watched Celtic try to play their way back into a contest they had already given away.
O’Neill’s side did create moments. Carter-Vickers picked out Duran with a raking pass on 67 minutes, the forward whipping in a dangerous cross that Kasper Hogh just failed to connect with. Benjamin Nygren curled an effort just past the post. Sebastian Tounekti forced Adam Varga into a strong save with a powerful drive. Nygren then tried an audacious lob with Varga stranded, but his effort sailed over.
The late flurry changed nothing. The damage had been done in three key moments, all born from Celtic mistakes.
When the final whistle went, many seats were already empty. Those who stayed made their feelings clear. The boos this time were loud, sharp, and aimed squarely at a team still searching for itself.
Big signings, bigger questions
O’Neill had reacted to the Old Firm defeat with four changes, hoping to jolt his side into life. The effect was minimal. The same vulnerabilities, the same soft concessions, the same lack of authority in big moments.
The summer recruits, Duran and Hogh among them, again failed to grab the stage. These are the games they were signed for. These are the nights when Celtic need them to rise above the chaos. So far, they haven’t.
Sky Sports’ Alison Conroy captured the mood: Celtic’s goals were “self-inflicted,” the defensive issues glaring and unresolved. Forrest shone in flashes, but he cannot carry the attacking threat alone, not at this level and not at this stage of his career.
O’Neill has admitted he is still trying to find his best XI. The schedule will not wait. The season has already reached a critical week.
O’Neill’s verdict and the storm ahead
“We’re naturally disappointed getting beaten,” O’Neill said afterwards, his tone controlled but edged with frustration. “It’s not the start we wanted. We have seven games in which to try and get some points on the board. Really need to concentrate now on Sunday.”
He called it “a European lesson… in many aspects” and insisted his side would “get ourselves together” and “re-energise.” On the ball, he wants more bravery, but in the “proper areas of the field.” The message was clear: cut out the cheap giveaways, take smarter risks.
The reaction from the stands didn’t surprise him.
“I’ve been here 25 years ago where the crowd can react like that, so it’s genuinely nothing new to me,” he said. The supporters’ anger, he argued, stemmed from watching promising moves end with two or three passes backwards. “Those things definitely frustrate you and that’s something that we’ll have to try and iron out.”
The table offers a strange contrast. No matter what happens on Sunday, Celtic will go into the international break on top of the Premiership. On paper, it looks stable. On the pitch, it feels anything but.
Two Old Firm defeats and a Europa League loss in eight days would ignite a full-blown crisis among a support that only months ago celebrated a league and cup double. The margin for error has shrunk quickly.
The next stop is Rangers again, live on Sky Sports. The question now is simple, and unforgiving: does this Celtic side have the resilience – and the defensive discipline – to stop a rocky start from spiralling into something far more damaging?
