Celtic return to European action on Thursday when they welcome Celta Vigo to Celtic Park.
A Brief History
Celta Vigo, founded in 1923 following the merger of Real Vigo Sporting and Real Fortuna, are a Spanish side who have competed in La Liga for sixty-one seasons in total, making them one of the long-standing participants in the top flight of Spanish football. The club’s nickname, “OS Celestes,” translates to “The Sky Blues,” resembling their light blue home strips.
Celta Vigo reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup in 2000, and in the 2016/17 season, Celta were narrowly defeated by Manchester United in the semi-finals of the Europa League.
In terms of their domestic history, The Sky Blues recorded their highest finish in La Liga in the 2002/03 season, finishing fourth, which, as a result, qualified them for the Champions League. In addition, Celta have reached the final of the Copa del Rey, which is the main domestic cup in Spain, three times—in 1948, 1994, and 2001—but are yet to lift the trophy.
Route to Europa League
Celta Vigo finished 6th in La Liga last season to qualify for the Europa League. En route to their 6th place finish, the Spanish side picked up numerous notable results against Spain’s elite, beating Real Madrid 2-0 at the Bernabeu and beating Atletico Madrid 1-0 at the Metropolitano.
The Form Book
O Celtiña have had an underwhelming start to the 2026/27 season. In La Liga, Celta Vigo have only won two out of their nine matches, but sit in eighth place due to drawing five games.
In terms of their European campaign thus far, Celta have struggled, losing their opening two games, so, like Celtic, they will be desperate to pick up maximum points to get their campaign up and running. Olivicos lost 1-0 away to Cypriot side Omonia Niscosia courtesy of a late winner from Balkovec. In their second match, Celta faced Italian giants Juventus, and, despite going ahead through Hugo Alvarez on eighteen minutes, Juventus turned the game around with a strike just shy of the hour mark from Woltemade and a stoppage time winner from former Spurs striker Kolo Muani.
Players to Watch
One player to watch from a Celta Vigo persuasion is midfielder Ilaix Moriba. The La Masia graduate is a tidy operator, which is backed up by the fact he has a 92.8% pass accuracy in La Liga this season and has made fifty-two line-breaking passes in the league thus far, which puts him in the top seven percent of La Liga midfielders.
One of the standout names in the current Celta Vigo side is defender Marcos Alonso. The thirty-three-year-old spent over six years at Chelsea, where he won the FA Cup, the Europa League, the Champions League, and the Super Cup. The Spaniard also spent just under two years at Barcelona, where he won the Spanish Super Cup and La Liga. The decorated defender is still performing at a decent level, ranking high in a lot of defensive metrics, including interceptions and tackles.
Another player to watch is Iago Aspas. At thirty-nine years young, the striker is still going strong. In Celta Vigo’s most recent match, the forward set up the winning goal just seconds after being introduced. The Spaniard, who has twenty caps for the national team, has only spent two years of his career away from Celta Vigo since the 2008/09 season. One of those seasons was spent at Liverpool in 2013/14, where he played fifteen times and netted once, and the other season was spent Sevilla in 2014/15, where he played twenty-six matches and scored ten times. In addition, the veteran striker holds the record for the most appearances for Celta Vigo with five hundred seventy-seven, as well as the record goalscorer with an impressive two hundred twenty-two goals.
