Celtic are not the only ones in troubled waters, as the Europa League returns on Thursday.
Martin O’Neill was in charge of Celtic’s win against Feyenoord during his first interim spell in charge, and he will have to pull a similar rabbit out of the hat for the trip to Bologna.
As the champions of Scotland were beating Auchinleck Talbot on Sunday in the Scottish Cup, Bologna were suffering a miserable home defeat to relegation-threatened Fiorentina.
It left their manager, Vincenzo Italiano, annoyed, especially given that Fiorentina are in the relegation zone and only won their first Serie A game of the season at the end of December.
- READ MORE: 67 Hail Hail fans in total agreement over Celtic’s abject Scottish Cup win vs Auchinleck Talbot
How many points do you think Celtic need to qualify for the Europa League knockout phase?
Vincenzo Italiano reacts as Bologna lose to Fiorentina before Celtic clash
Whilst Celtic put in abject performances and still secure the three points, Bologna have not been able to conjure up such luck for themselves.
Speaking to Bologna’s official website, Italiano explained that his team were ‘too negative’ in the first half against Fiorentina, going into the break two goals down, and it was a ‘wasted’ 45 minutes.
The home side pulled a goal back with two minutes left on the clock, but it was undeserved, and it still resulted in them losing the match.
“The first half was too negative for us; we inexplicably wasted 45 minutes,” said Italiano.
“After Verona, I expected a confirmation and a different kind of fury from the team. At the end of today, we could have even equalised, but our start to the match conditioned everything.”
Celtic and Bologna’s standing in the Europa League…
It’s crazy to think that, this time last season, Celtic were going to book their ticket into the play-off stages of the Champions League with one game remaining.
Yet, in a European division below, they are now hanging on by a thread and holding the final play-off spot. Three points separate Celtic, who have seven points from six matches, in 24th, and Viktoria Plzeň in 14th.
Bologna are one place above, on 11 points and will be aiming to gatecrash the top eight spots.
Either way, with Celtic playing Utrecht at home for their final Europa League match, you suspect that results are needed in both if they want to progress.
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