Celtic’s Europa Conference League campaign has proved brief and painful as Ange Postecoglou’s men went down to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt in the Arctic Circle.
The Norwegian champions rounded off a 5-1 aggregate win on Thursday to reach the last-16 of the inaugural third-tier European event.
Celtic were trying to recover a 3-1 home defeat but conceded quickly to Ola Solbakken before Hugo Vetlesen struck again after the break to ease the two-time Norwegian champions into the next round.
Just as in the first leg, Celtic conceded early on and then struggled to find an attacking rhythm on Bodo/Glimt’s artificial pitch.
Solbakken netted inside nine minutes to swiftly put the tie beyond Postecoglou’s side as Celtic were outclassed for the majority of the first half.
There was a bit of a reaction from the visitors either side of the break but Vetlesen killed off any lingering hopes Celtic had of a comeback when he scored in the 69th minute.
Postecoglou has now presided over three tournament exits as Celtic’s European campaign ended with a seventh defeat in 14 matches.
The Premiership leaders now only have domestic success to focus on and Postecoglou may have had one eye on Sunday’s visit to Hibernian when he picked his team.
Skipper Callum McGregor, defender Cameron Carter-Vickers and in-form wingers Jota and Liel Abada were all named on the bench.
Postecoglou had passed up the chance to train on the Aspmyra Stadium’s artificial surface, and though his side had plenty of possession and territory, they were unable to make it count, unlike the Norwegians, who produced 11 first-half shots to the visitors’ one.
© AAP
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