Martin O’Neill anticipating a tough game but is aiming for a win over Feyenoord

Celtic are in Rotterdam ahead of Thursday night’s UEFA Europa League meeting with Feyenoord, and Martin O’Neill says his side will approach the match with belief while fully aware of the challenge awaiting them at De Kuip. The Hoops have bounced back since the European defeat to FC Midtjylland, putting together positive results in the league including a hard-fought win over St Mirren at the weekend. And as the interim manager looked ahead to tomorrow’s fixture, he stressed that building momentum has been vital. “We are going to try and win the game, of course,” Martin O’Neill said. “It’s Feyenoord we are playing, so it will be very difficult. ‘Their confidence comes from themselves, not from what we might or might not do, but we’ve picked up plenty of confidence as well.’ “We had a really tough match against Midtjylland, but we’ve made progress since then, certainly domestically, and we’re looking forward to the game. “I think we’re going in with confidence. We didn’t play brilliantly against St Mirren, but we won the game. Winning always gives you confidence, so we’ll try our might tomorrow, but it will be a difficult match.”Martin O’Neill also reflected on the history between the clubs, with Celtic’s long-standing links to Wim Jansen and Henrik Larsson adding extra colour to the occasion. And with the 1970 European Cup final in Milan part of that shared story, the manager acknowledged the significance of Celtic returning to a stadium steeped in such memories. “The 1970 final was a massive disappointment for us,” he said. “We had beaten Leeds in the semi-final and were expected to win, but Feyenoord won the game. “It has history attached. I’ve just looked outside – some of the great names of world football are on the wall. There is something special about this place.”Upcoming FixturesFeyenoord Vs. Celtic – Sun, Nov 11th 2025, 12:00