Europa League II
S.C. Braga
~~~~~~~~~~ Official TC Match Preview ~~~~~~~~~~


Sebastian Tounetki continues to impress with his form since his arrival at the end of August


Celtic Park, Glasgow
Thursday, 2 October 2025
17.45 BST

The Bhoys are back in Europa League action, as they host the visit of Portuguese side, S.C. Braga to Celtic Park.

Brendan Rodgers, like many others, was left scratching his head as to how his side failed to score in the 0-0 draw with Hibernian at the weekend, where the Bhoys had 77% possession, 53 touches in the box, 46 crosses, fired 26 shots, however just 6 of which were on target, in addition to the 2 that hit the woodwork and having a goal chalked off.

With so much dominance and opportunities being crafted against a stubborn Hibs side (who admittedly have only lost twice in the League since early December last year), hopefully some of the tweaks that were introduced to the team will begin to bear more fruit as Celtic look to start to find a goal scoring groove, and start to improve their recent run of form, which while undefeated, has seen the Hoops win just two of their past six games.

Celtic will not have long to dwell on that however, as preparations turn to focusing on their next opponant, and the Hoops will want to make the most of their home advantage this week, as they look to build on the point that they secured in the 1-1 draw away at Red Star Belgrade, last week.

And it will not be easy, as they host the visit of Portuguese side, with the Hoops looking to make the most of their home conditions to register their first win of the Europa League campaign.​

Former Celt Gustaf Lagerbielke made his debut for Braga against Livski Sofia in this competition

Who are S.C. Braga?

Founded in 1921, Sporting Clube de Braga has in recent years become very competitive, if not quite on the same level with the traditional 'Big Three' of Benfica, Porto and Sporting Lisbon, but the gap is undeniably narrowing.

This has been reflected in their increased success on the park, especially in Cup competitions over the past 12 years, where they have won the Portuguese Cup twice (most recently in 2021) and the League Cup three times (most recently in 2024), in addition to finishing in the top 4 every season in the League from 2017/18 onwards, and successfully qualifying for UEFA competitions every season since 2004/05, with reaching the 2011 Europa League Final being the high water mark.

This season, manager Carlos Vinces' side remain undefeated in Europe, through three rounds of Europa League qualifying as well as securing a 1-0 win last week in the first of the Group Stage games against Feyenoord.

While all has been progressing well in Europe, it is a different matter on the domestic front however, where they have struggled for form, and are without a win in any of their past 6 Primiera Liga matches since the middle of August. This includes at the weekend, when Braga were defeated 1-0 at home by Nacional.

Head to Head

These two sides have only previously met in the Third Qualifying Round for the 2010/11 Champions League. These were literally Celtic's first two competitive games of that season, and it could not have gone worse straight off the back of Braga inflicting a 3-0 defeat in the first leg.

Neil Lennon's Bhoys rallied in the return match in Glasgow though, to win, 2-1, however the damage had already been done. To give it some context, as noted above, Braga would go on to reach the Europa Cup Final that season, while Celtic were in full rebuild mode and were still bedding in new players, that shouldn't be forgotten.


2010: Celtic misfit Efrain Juarez scored the winner in a 2-1 victory the last time these sides met

Stats & Facts​

• Celtic have lost just once in their past 8 European games at Paradise since early October 2023 (W4 D3 L1).

• The Hoops are seeking their first European win since the 1-0 victory v Young Boys, back in January.

• The Bhoys have kept 8 clean sheets in 11 games across all competitions so far this season - but have only scored 17 goals, with just 4 of those being in the first half - and only 1 that was not in the League Cup.

• Braga are undefeated in all of their European matches so far this season (P7 W6 D1 L0), having scored 15 goals and conceded just twice across all of those, including a 1-0 win against Feyenoord last week.

• Ironically though, while Braga are undefeated in Europe, they have struggled domestically, having not won in the Primiera Liga since mid-August.

Kalechi Iheanacho had his first start as a Celt in the 0-0 draw with Hibs this past weekend

Team News

Brendan Rodgers will be without Alistair Johnston (hamstring), Austen Trusty (heel) and Jota (knee), while it is likely that there will be some alterations to the starting XI, with the likes of Kieran Tierney and Benjamin Nygren possibly expected to return.

Among the visitors there will be at least one familiar face, as former Celt, Gustav Lagerbielke will line up for his new club. However, Jonatas Noro (achilles) and Mario Dorgeles (ligament) are both likely to remain unavailable.

Carlos Vincens tends to prefer a foundation of a back 3 for the majority of games, and while there has been occasional tweaking of formations, that does appear a regular feature, and the manager has an array of wingers and attacking options to choose from, with Fran Navarro and Pau Victor leading the way.

Referee: Tobias Stieler (GER)

The 44y.o German has officiated 197 Bundesliga matches since 2012, in addition to more than 50 games in UEFA competitions since 2016. Stieler has twice previously officiated Celtic, including the 2-1 away win against Lazio in 2019.

Overall Record
P:2 W:1 D:0 L:1

VAR: Christian Dingert (GER)

Weather

The forecast for Glasgow expects rain, a moderate breeze & approx 15°C at kick-off.



~~~~ Head to Head ~~~~

P:2 W:1 D:0 L:1

v All Portuguese Opposition
P:25 W:12 D:4 L:9

~~~~ 2025/26 Form ~~~~​

Overall
D D W W D ~ L W D L D​