Martin O'Neill says Celtic's 3-0 loss to Rangers at Ibrox should be used as a lesson, not filed away as a one-off. Five of his starting XI were playing in an Old Firm match for the first time, and he said: "I think it was an eye-opener to some of the newer lads." Celtic had already failed to get past LASK in Champions League qualification before dropping into the Europa League.
The message after Ibrox
Speaking to the BBC and RTÉ, Martin O'Neill kept coming back to the same point. "We were disappointed ourselves, we disappointed the fans and now we just have to rise to the occasion," he said. He also added, "They should hurt. I think [for] some of the newer players, it was a revelation in many aspects."
That is the crux of it. Celtic's domestic form has not collapsed around the derby loss. They have won five straight league matches, and they finished first in the 2025 Premiership with 82 points. O'Neill's point is that the squad can absorb one ugly afternoon without letting it drag into the rest of the week.
Ferencvaros and the quick reset
The reset has to come fast because Ferencvarosi TC arrive on Thursday in Celtic's Europa League opener, and Celtic vs Rangers comes again on Sunday in the William Hill Premiership. O'Neill said, "The Europa League is still very strong. We'd like to get off to a decent start if we could," and later added, "We've got two matches in which to do so before the break. Two big games for us, Ferencvaros will not be easy, but we've done it before, we'll get ourselves right."
The European numbers give that some weight. Celtic played eight Europa League matches last season and start from 21st in last season's table, while Ferencvaros finished 12th with 15 points. Celtic's task is simple enough: show that the Ibrox result was a bad night, then back it up against opponents who are not here just to make up the numbers.
Written by Sam Whitfield with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 2 outlets. How we work →
