CELTIC VS BRAGA: ANOTHER EUROPEAN NO-SHOW
- By LIAM McBRIDE
- Oct 3
- 3 min read
After a dull ninety five minutes of football, a mere 10,000 or so remained. From the few who stayed, they let their feelings be known upon the final whistle. They were treated to an all too familiar lacklustre display which has ramped up the pressure in a fight for a play-off spot.
Since Celtic vs Braga ended in a 2-0 defeat, the Bhoys now sit 30th in the Europa League pile (at the time of writing) with back to back home ties against Sturm Graz followed by back to back away games against Feyenoord and Midtjylland around the corner. Serie A outfits Roma and Bologna await further down the line.
Celtic vs Braga Shows Just How Much We've Regressed
It’s been said to death, but it must be reinstated : the extent of this regression has been mind-blowing. Heading into this season, Celtic’s home form in Europe was a source of pride.
Draws against Atletico Madrid and Club Brugge mixed with wins against Feyenoord, Slovan Bratislava, Young Boys and Leipzig, plus a narrow loss to Bayern Munich demonstrated genuine progress on the continental stage.
At the elite European level, you need an obvious strength. Celtic’s forte was speed in transition. With the pace of Nicolas Kuhn and Daizen Maeda on the wings, and the posturing movement of Kyogo, Celtic could soak up pressure and have an outlet.
This allowed the Hoops to compete. Two of the three have left, and one is being played out of position. With their backs against the wall, the Scottish Champions struggle to create chances.
Braga came into this tie with manager Carlos Vicens under severe pressure. Their Europa League win over Feyenoord was their only so far in all competitions. TeamTalk sports journalist Rudy Galetti revealed that the Portuguese outfit was shortlisting potential replacements for the former Man City assistant coach.
They came to Glasgow and played with a pace and aggression on the ball that Celtic struggled with. For large periods of the first half, the home side looked all at sea off the ball, and were cut open at ease.
The defensive structure seemed rather disjointed, with Iheanacho doing very little running up front, giving Braga time on the ball, plus McGregor and Bernardo staying deep but chasing shadows. There was a chasm of space in the centre.
In the second half, with a system change that resembled a 3-5-2, Celtic’s backline stood bravely on the halfway line, leaving acres of territory in behind and can count their lucky stars that a second didn’t come quicker.
Admittedly, the Celts had a perfectly fair goal ruled out. There is no conclusive evidence provided yet as to why it was deemed a handball in the build up to Iheanacho’s strike. Yet, the issues still remained. The disallowed equalizer came from a lucky break of the ball. Brendan Rodgers’ men still weren’t creating chances.
The midfield three struggled to play through the pitch. McGregor rarely passed positively while Nygren was anonymous. Paulo Bernardo seemed the only player willing to spray the ball forward on occasion, but you would be at a stretch to say he had a good outing.
A change of system and some substitutions alleviated these issues temporarily. Reo Hatate and Arne Engels had a positive impact on the game, with the former able to take the ball in central areas and link the game in an attacking sense, while the latter's crossing ability from the right-hand side impressed. In fairness to McGregor, he had a better second half and was more involved in the final third.
Yet, you could still count the number of genuine chances on your right hand, which, when chasing a goal in the Europa League, simply doesn’t satisfy.
It’s four games on the European stage this season, and just one goal scored. It’s not as if they’ve faced the crème de la crème either. The likes of Kairat, Red Star Belgrade and Braga are teams that Celtic should, at the very least, be scoring goals against.
A year ago, you’d have fancied much more, particularly at home.
Yet, once again, the regression of this team has been laid out in front of us; unkindly exposed.
