July 28, (THEWILL) – In a Round 2 UEFA Champions League Qualification match played at the MCH Arena in Herning, Denmark on Wednesday night, Celtic suffered another UCL nightmare as Danish side Midtjylland came from behind to reach the third qualifying round with a 2-1 victory after extra time.
A magnificent Callum McGregor goal had put the former Scottish Premier League champions in front on aggregate early in the second half of a second leg that started with the two sides level at 1-1 from the first round of their matchup.
Awer Mabil equalised for the Danes with a header and. Then, Victor Stange Lind wasted a great chance to snatch victory at the end of normal time when he fired a volley wide. But as Celtic failed to deal with a free-kick four minutes into extra time, Raphael Onyedika deservedly rifled home the winner with his left foot.
The goal confined Celtic to another shutting out of Europe’s elite football for yet another season while Onyedika’s Danish Superliga side set up a two-legged meeting with Eredivisie club PSV Eindhoven.
It means that for a consecutive time, Celtic crashed out at the same stage as they did last season at the hands of Ferencvaros and will now face a Europa League qualifier against Czech side Jablonec.
It is surely not the type of miserable start Ange Postecoglou could have looked forward to in his managerial career at Celtic after the 55-year-old Australian took over from Neil Lennon this year.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
