Of Celtic’s exits in the summer, Gustaf Lagerbielke was one of the more low-profile.
The Swedish defender was signed from Elfsborg in Brendan Rodgers’ first transfer window of his second spell in 2023.
Despite his £3 million price tag, Lagerbielke started just three games all season, finding himself rock bottom of Rodgers’ pecking order.
He joined FC Twente on loan for the 2024-25 season, and joined Braga in the summer for a fee of £2.2 million.
Lagerbielke impressed Celtic fans with his performance against the Hoops in the Europa League this season – but this is far from his most significant contribution this season.
Tell us your starting XI for Martin O’Neill’s first game back
Ex-Celtic man Gustaf Lagerbielke downs Benfica with Braga winner
Braga had a rough start to the season under new boss Carlos Vicens; he was under pressure going into the tie at Celtic Park.
In winning 3-1, Vicens went a long way to proving himself that night in Glasgow.
READ MORE: Martin O’Neill lifts lid on Celtic punditry U-turn, admits he ‘didn’t like it’
But his finest hour came on Wednesday night, in the semi-final of the Taca de Liga against Jose Mourinho’s Benfica.
Lagerbielke had been out injured in Braga’s previous few fixtures, but was thrown straight back in for the big one in a sign of trust from Vicens.
Braga were in dreamland at half-time, leading the game 2-0 – and after Vangelis Pavlidis, halved the deficit for Benfica, Lagerbielke’s moment arrived.
Ricardo Horta sent in a wide free-kick, and a mix-up at the back from Benfica saw Tomas Araujo almost score an own-goal – but Lagerbielke was there to pounce.
Gustaf Lagerbielke sinks Jose Mourinho with heroic winner for Braga
After an upset in the other semi-final, Braga will face Vitoria Guimaraes in the final, as they look to win the trophy for just the fourth time in their history.
They sit fifth in the Liga Portugal, a whopping 24 points behind Porto already, with Francesco Farioli’s side holding a remarkable record of 16 wins and one draw in 17. Celtic could do with that.
Other Celtic summer signings from 2023 – where are they now?
Looking back on Mark Lawwell’s 2023 transfer window isn’t fun – forgotten names such as Odin Thiago Holm, Marco Tilio and Kwon Hyeok-kyu left Rodgers with a completely bloated squad.
£7 million was spent between Lagerbielke and Maik Nawrocki, but loan signing Nat Phillips ended up ahead of them in the pecking order.
At £3.5 million, Luis Palma was the Jota replacement – he wasn’t an abject failure, making an impact for the team – but he was frozen out by Rodgers and is now on loan in Poland.
Yang Hyun-Jun and Paulo Bernardo are the only two still contributing for Celtic today.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
