Celtic host Turkish side Beşiktaş at Celtic Park in the Europa League on Thursday night, with kick-off at 8pm.
It has been an underwhelming start to the 26/27 Europa League campaign for Celtic with three straight defeats coming against Ferencváros (1-3), Benfica (1-4) and Celta Vigo (1-2) respectively.
European football has proven to be a challenge for Martin O’Neill’s men this season. They have now lost their last four European matches including the UCL play-off collapse at LASK, which marks the club’s worst run of defeats in Europe since four successive Champions League losses in 2017.
Celtic sit second bottom in the Europa League table and now face an uphill battle if they are to reach the knockout stages following a lacklustre start.
Domestic matters within the last week haven’t been much better for Celtic either. In the same week, Celtic were held to a frustrating 2-2 draw at Celtic Park against Dundee United with defender Liam Scales salvaging a point in the second half.
On Sunday they were defeated 2-0 away from home against Falkirk, who claimed their first victory over the Scottish champions in 19 years.
Celtic have now won just three of their last ten matches in all competitions, with criticism of manager Martin O’Neill and the Celtic board continuing to intensify.
As for Celtic’s opponents Beşiktaş, they have made an impressive start in the Europa League and are unbeaten in their opening three matches with two wins and a draw, they sit in 8th position on seven points.
The Turkish outfit cruised to a comfortable 4-1 victory against French opponents Marseille on home soil, followed up with an eventful 3-2 win over Hoffenheim in Germany before most recently coming from behind against English Premier League side Crystal Palace to claim a 2-2 draw.
Like Celtic, Beşiktaş were also in action on Sunday as they had to settle for a point against Kasımpaşan after squandering a two-goal lead.
Vincenzo Italiano’s side finished fourth in the 2025/26 Süper Lig season on 60 points, entering the Europa League at the second qualifying round having overcome three ties against Midtjylland (3-0), Hradec Králové (2-0) and Kauno Žalgiris (3-1) to secure their place in this season’s league phase.
Team news
Celtic winger Yang Hyun-jun has returned to training after a hamstring injury, O’Neill has said that this game may come too soon for him.
Beşiktaş will be without centre-back Ümit Akdağ as he serves a suspension having been shown a straight red card against Crystal Palace.
Celtic will look to kick-start their European campaign while Beşiktaş will see this as an opportunity to build on a strong start and strengthen their grip on the automatic qualification places.
