I wrote an article on The Celtic Star in the lead up to yesterday’s match in Belgrade stating that there were a few things our opening game in the Europa League would shine a light on in regards to this Celtic team, and in just over 90 minutes of action my questions were certainly answered. The first query I had was the fact that we went in to this match as favourites according to the bookies, something that definitely surprised me.
View from the away end in Belgrade, Photo The Celtic Star
I stated that I found it strange that we were favourites considering our away record in Europe, especially with Red Star Belgrade being able to boast a more than decent record at home. On top of this our opponents had started the season impressively despite, like Celtic, also going out in the Champions League playoff round whilst being favourites to progress.
Celtic fans ahead of kick-off Crvena zvezda v Celtic, UEFA Europa League, Football, Rajko Mitic Stadium, Belgrade, Serbia – 24 Sep 2025Belgrade Rajko Mitic Stadium Serbia Photo: Nikola Krstic Shutterstock
Domestically they had started the campaign on fire, winning all their matches, scoring plenty of goals and conceding very little. I predicted a draw and said I would be relatively happy with that result and I stand by that today. Coming away from the ‘Marakana’ with a point is a decent result.
I do have to say however that after seeing Red Star Belgrade in action I’m convinced that they were most certainly beatable. In fact once we took the lead in that second half I couldn’t really see them coming back but it was our weakness in defending set pieces, that was evident all night, that was our undoing in the end.
