Celtic’s game against Braga will kick-off at the unusual time of 5:45pm on Thursday night.
The Hoops are at home for the second game of the 2025/26 Europa League main phase following their draw away to Red Star Belgrade.
That game kicked off at 8:00pm, which is the time most would’ve expected this week’s fixture at Celtic Park to take place.
Instead, it will take place at a much earlier time, but it isn’t the earliest kick-off that the Hoops have had.
Celtic played Ferencvaros at 3:30pm on a Thursday night
Back in 2021, Celtic were due to play Hungarian side Ferencvaros on 21 October, 2021.
Ange Postecoglou’s side were forced to play at this early time due to the fact that both Celtic and Rangers were pencilled in to play at home that same day.
Police Scotland stated that they were unable to cope with the demands of both Glasgow clubs playing at home at the same time.
Additionally, the COP 26 press conference took place in Glasgow in November 2021, which meant that any of the Hoops’ Europa League fixtures at home during that month could not take place at a later date.
Despite this, fans were still able to pack out Celtic Park and were treated to a 2-0 win as Kyogo Furuhashi’s 58th minute opener was followed by an own goal in the 81st minute.
Why is Celtic vs Braga a 5:45pm kick off?
There has been no official correspondence from UEFA as to why Celtic’s game against Braga has been selected for an earlier kick-off time, however, it follows a similar pattern to previous years.
Pretty much every team will be handed an equal share of earlier and later kick-offs in the league phase campaign.
On some occasions, it can be to do with the time zone of where the home side is located, but in others, it is just a random selection depending on the game weeks.
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