As Celtic prepare for their Como Cup outing against Ajax this evening, Cesc Fabregas has reflected warmly on his experiences at Celtic Park, even though he once endured one of the Champions League’s most memorable defeats in Glasgow…

Landry N’Guemo of Celtic tackles Cesc Fabregas of Arsenal during the UEFA Champions League qualifying match between Celtic and Arsenal at Celtic Park on August 18, 2009 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

This new pre season competition, featuring Celtic against Ajax and Como meeting Saudi Arabia’s Al Ahli in the semi finals, marks a new venture for the Italian hosts as they measure themselves against experienced international clubs.

During a glittering career that included spells with Arsenal, Barcelona, Chelsea, Monaco and Como – and triumphs at both a World Cup and two European Championships with Spain – Como boss Fabregas matched up against Celtic on three occasions, emerging victorious in two of them.

His first meeting versus the Hoops ended positively with Arsenal’s 2–0 victory in 2009 in Champions League qualification, but the second would leave a lasting impression on both Celtic and the Spaniard, as he came off the bench in 2012 only to see Neil Lennon’s men seal a famous 2–1 upset against the Catalan giants.

Tony Watt scores! Celtic v Barcelona match in the Champions League on 7 November 2012 at Celtic Park. Photo Vagelis Georgariou

Speaking about that particular night via Glasgow Times, Febregas said: “Fantastic atmosphere. It was incredible to play at Celtic Park. It will be nice because they have quality players. They won the league by far this year and they play in Europe. If we do play against them, it will be a big test.”

07.11.2012 Glasgow, Scotland. Tony Watt and Victor Wanyama in action during the Champions League game between Celtic and Barcelona from Celtic Park. Photo Big Lens

Should Celtic meet Como at the weekend, they will come up against two former players in Nicolas Kuhn and Alex Valle. However, the ex-Barcelona midfielder admitted that assessing Celtic and its squad came with difficulties, given the significant gap separating Brendan Rodgers’ side from the rest of Scottish football.

“I watched more individual clips of them, not so much collectively. But it’s a very interesting team,” said Fabregas. “The problem is that analysing these teams is a bit difficult because they are normally so superior every week in their league.”

“But doing it in Europe, that’s where you see the real value and level. They are a very well organised and competent team. I spoke with Nick (Kuhn) about them and he was really happy there, he always speaks very well of them.”

Conor Spence

Read this – The backstory to Celtic in the Eighties by David Potter

Thank you to everyone who has already pre-ordered the late David Potter’s last ever Celtic book, Celtic in the Eighties, which will be published on the fifth day of September by Celtic Star Books. The link to pre-order your copy is below…

Celtic in the Eighties by David Potter, out 5 September 2025. Available to pre-order now.

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