Celtic and Celta Vigo met at Celtic Park in the UEFA Europa League league phase, and the shape of the match explained the scoreline far better than the bare numbers do. Celta Vigo turned the tie around and left Celtic to chase the game for the best part of the second half. The turning point came at the 71 minute mark, when Javi Rodríguez scored cleanly, and everything that followed was played in that new landscape. Celta Vigo won 2-1 and carried the points home. 48374 supporters filled Celtic Park, and the noise never really left the players alone. Neither side arrived in the best form: the last five results read L L W L W for Celtic and L W D L W for Celta Vigo, and both sets of players knew what a slip would cost.
Match facts
- Date: 22.10.2026
- Kick-off: 19:00 UTC
- Venue: Celtic Park, Glasgow, Scotland (60832)
- Attendance: 48374
- Referee: Georgi Kabakov (Bulgaria)
- Competition: UEFA Europa League 2026/2027 – Matchday 3
- Starting line-ups: Celtic (4-2-3-1, Coach: Martin O'Neill) / Celta Vigo (3-4-3, Coach: Claudio Giráldez)
- Scorers: Mika Baur 47′ (Celtic); Javi Rodríguez 68′ (Celta Vigo); Javi Rodríguez 71′ (Celta Vigo)
Celtic lined up with Sam Johnstone, Colby Donovan, Dane Murray, Liam Scales, Kieran Tierney, Callum McGregor, Mika Baur, Haissem Hassan, Benjamin Nygren, Callum Osmand, Camilo Durán in a 4-2-3-1, while Celta Vigo answered with Ionuț Radu, Javi Rodríguez, Sebastián Cáceres, Marcos Alonso, Javi Rueda, Aleix Febas, Hugo Burcio, Sergio Carreira, Iago Aspas, Ferrán Jutglà, Hugo Álvarez in a 3-4-3. Martin O’Neill and Claudio Giráldez led their respective sides from the touchline, and both had a plan for the first hour that they wanted to keep intact.
Goals and key moments
Goal details, minutes and scorers are the part of the record that separate one evening from another. At the 47 minute mark, Mika Baur scored cleanly, and there was nothing anyone could do about 1-0. It was a chance worth 0.15 expected goals, which is exactly why it was worth taking. That strike changed the temperature of the evening: from that point Celtic could play for the counter while Celta Vigo had to take risks in the spaces that had opened up. 68′: Javi Rodríguez scored cleanly, Hugo Álvarez helping it over the line, and it was 1-1 almost immediately. The chance itself carried 0.21 expected goals of weight, and the goalkeeper had no answer to it. The opening goal of the night arrived at the 71 minute mark, when Javi Rodríguez scored cleanly for 1-2. The goalkeeper would say afterwards that it was worth 0.06, and that is the harshest measure of all. Not every opening was taken, though, and the chances that were missed told their own story. Taken together, the goals gave the evening a shape that the scoreline on its own never explained.
The tactical picture
Celtic started in 4-2-3-1 under Martin O’Neill, while Celta Vigo answered with 3-4-3 under Claudio Giráldez, and those two shapes decided most of what happened on the field. The midfield was the part of the pitch both sides wanted, and the numbers show who managed to take it. Neither manager was willing to hand the central ground over for free, and the shape of the game followed that refusal. Celta Vigo’s 3-4-3 was the sharper of the two systems, and Celtic’s 4-2-3-1 spent longer than they should have without the ball. Celta Vigo pressed high and won the second ball, which left Celtic unable to build from the back and forced them into hopeful passes. The width of the pitch worked against Celtic, who kept trying to attack down the same flank and were closed down every time. Transitions were the story: Celta Vigo moved the ball forward at speed, Celtic could not. The tactical conversation between the two benches was as much a part of the evening as the movement of the ball itself.
Statistical comparison
The statistical picture is as revealing as the scoreline itself. Celtic attempted 8 shots to Celta Vigo’s 22, with 4 on target against 4. Expected goals told the sharper story: 0.48 for Celtic, 1.30 for Celta Vigo. Possession finished at 44 per cent for Celtic against 56 per cent for Celta Vigo, and it is worth noting which side actually used it. The numbers that decide matches rarely tell the whole story, but they narrow the argument down to a very small area. Celtic won 2 corners to Celta Vigo’s 6, and that is where most of the set-piece danger came from. Celtic completed 436 of 494 passes against 579 of 647 for Celta Vigo, a difference that shows how differently the two sides circulated the ball. Fouls were committed 10 times by Celtic and 5 by Celta Vigo, with 0 and 0 red cards in the official count. The goalkeepers made 2 and 3 saves respectively, and on a night like this that work decides how the result is remembered. The duels went 37 to 28, which is usually the cleanest single indicator of who was prepared to spend effort on the ball. Tackles were completed 18 times by Celtic and 9 by Celta Vigo, and the duels that followed tell the same story as the rest of the evening. Celtic managed 6 shots from inside the penalty area compared with 9 for Celta Vigo, which is the clearest single indicator of where the game was actually played.
Discipline and substitutions
Discipline and substitutions shaped the second half more than the scoreline suggests. Celtic collected 4 yellow cards and Celta Vigo 0, with Camilo Durán (23′), Martin O’Neill (67′), Liam Scales (85′) among the bookings. The caution count of 4 in total meant the referee had to manage a game that was becoming increasingly physical around the halfway line. Both coaches used their changes: 4 by Celtic and 5 by Celta Vigo, with the last substitution of the evening coming at the 85 minute mark. The emotional temperature of the evening rose and fell with the challenges and with the decisions taken by both benches. Georgi Kabakov took charge of the match and kept a close eye on a game that grew untidy in the middle third.
Player of the match and the standout performers
Individual performances separated the two teams across a full ninety minutes. Javi Rodríguez of Celta Vigo was the player of the match with a rating of 9.2, and every touch that mattered carried his name on it. For Celtic, the best individual rating belonged to Mika Baur (7.58). For Celta Vigo, the best individual rating belonged to Javi Rodríguez (9.21). The gap between the best performances on each side was the reason the result never really looked as comfortable as it was. The goalkeeping was worth a mention too: Sam Johnstone made 2 saves for Celtic, and Ionuț Radu made 3 for Celta Vigo. Across the two squads the highest individual ratings read Mika Baur (7.58), Callum McGregor (7.11), Javi Rodríguez (9.21), Hugo Álvarez (8.32).
What the result means for the league phase
Celtic on 0 points from 3 matches, in 35th place with a goal difference of -6 and Celta Vigo on 3 points from 3 matches, in 25th place with a goal difference of -1. Celtic arrived with L L W L W in their last five and Celta Vigo with L W D L W, so the result fits the run both of them have been on. For Celta Vigo this is the result the league phase was built for, and it leaves them in a much healthier position; Celtic will need to respond quickly. What the numbers cannot show is how hard the result was worked for, and how differently the two sides will remember it. The next round of the league phase will tell more: whoever adjusts first in the coming days will be the one who controls the group.