Manager: We have to learn from Euro defeat and be ready to go on Sunday

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Celtic F.C.

·19 February 2026

Manager: We have to learn from Euro defeat and be ready to go on Sunday

Martin O’Neill admitted that it had been a difficult night for his Celtic side as they lost 4-1 at home to VfB Stuttgart in the first leg of the UEFA Europa League play-off tie.

It makes the visit to Germany next week a very difficult one for the Hoops, though before then, they face a home match against Hibernian this Sunday in the Premiership.

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Speaking to Celtic TV after the game, the Celtic manager said: “It was going to be a tough game anyway to begin with, but we didn’t help ourselves. We conceded some very poor goals.

“We got back into the game and even at half-time I felt we could conjure up something but we conceded not long after that and the game goes beyond you at that stage.

“The very obvious thing is we didn’t defend strongly enough in the course of it, and I thought the goals were avoidable.

“That’s gone now, and much as I can push it to the side and learn a great deal, as I did from the Midtjylland game, that they are difficult games.

"European football is tough and when you’re playing a side in the top four of the Bundesliga, it doesn’t matter if it’s home or away, it’s going to be hard.

“But we can learn things from that but our focus now has to be Sunday, which is massive for us.”