Celtic’s season got off to the worst possible start on Wednesday as they went down 3-0 to SC Braga in the first leg of their Champions League third qualifying round tie.
Osorio Alan, Uwa Echiejile and sub Nascimento Matheus hit the goals at the AXA Stadium as Neil Lennon’s first European game as Bhoys manager left his side with a mountain to climb if they are to make the playoff round.
The game was Braga’s first ever in the competition after their second place finish in Portugal last season and they were very much the better team on the night, as a rapidly-strewn together Celtic side struggled with the heat and sometimes with the basics.
Lennon left Aiden McGeady out of his squad fuelling speculation that a transfer for the Ireland star may be imminent. New boys Joe Ledley, Charlie Mulgrew, Efrain Juarez and Cha Du-Ri all started, however, but none of them – nor indeed any of their team-mates – could muster a shot on target for the Scottish side in the opening 45 minutes.
Ki Sung-Yeung (pictured) did send an early free-kick over the bar for the visitors, but the Portuguese side had the better of it in baking conditions, Lukasz Zaluska spilling a shot from Paolo Cesar and looking relieved when former Porto man Andres Madrid sent the follow up from 20 yards into the night sky.
However, he was spewing in the 25th minute as his Braga won a penalty. Ki conceded it, the South Korean adjudged to have handled Miguel Garcia’s cross and Alan stepped up to fire the ball to the roof of the Pole’s net from 12 yards.
Leandro Salino scuffed a great chance to make it 2-0 for Braga not long after that goal, but it was just the penalty from Alan that separated the sides at the break.
The second half was slow to get going with Shaun Maloney, a starter for Celtic for the first time since last October after a long injury, failing to trouble Braga goalkeeper Mario Felgudiraf with a free-kick.
The Bhoys were having no real luck in getting balls into the Braga box as a host of crosses from Mulgrew and Ki were cleared with ease, while at the other end Pinheiro Moises flashed a header wide from Paulo Cesar cross.
Matheus, not long on, then went agonisingly close for Domingos Paciencia’s side when he shot just wide of Zaluska’s right hand post from outside the area and the Hoops ‘keeper then had to save another effort from Alan.
But he was beaten for a second time with just under a quarter of an hour to go. Celtic conceded a corner and, from Matheus’ set-piece, Echiejile ghosted in alarmingly easily and got a touch to divert the ball to the back of Lennon’s side’s net.
Sub Daryl Murphy headed tamely wide on his debut as the Bhoys looked to respond with a vital away strike, but it was only Braga who were finding the net on the night and they got possibly a killer goal for the tie with two minutes to play courtesy of Matheus.
Moises was fouled by Scott Brown some 20 yards out and the Brazilian stepped up to fire the free-kick powerfully to the top corner of the Celtic net, leaving the Glasgow side needing snookers to advance any further in the competition.