Celtic are in action this Thursday night when they play host to Sturm Graz on matchday three of the league phase of the UEFA Europa League. Brendan Rodgers’ side kicked off their campaign with a 1-1 draw against Crvena Zvezda in Belgrade, but followed that up with a 2-0 loss at home to SC Braga. So the Hoops are determined to return to winning ways this week against Sturm Graz. Ahead of the game, we take a look at Celtic’s previous encounters with Austrian sides, starting back in 1977… 1977/78European CupCeltic v Tirol InnsbruckThe first competitive meeting between Celtic and an Austrian side came in the European Cup second-round of season 1977/78 following a summary 11-1 aggregate score over Jeunesse d’Esch of Luxembourg. Despite recording a 2-1 win at home over Tirol Innsbruck, the team fell to a 3-0 defeat over in Austria. To be fair, this was a depleted Celtic side, with the champions reeling from the departure of Kenny Dalglish and injuries to Danny McGrain and Pat Stanton who had all been key players in the title-winning side of the previous season. But there were youngsters such as Roy Aitken breaking through to the team, and one of them scored his first European goal for the Hoops by netting the winner in the home leg against Innsbruck. With the game tied at 1-1, it was in the 78th minute that Tommy Burns latched on to an Andy Lynch shot that broke off a defender and the youngster coolly drove the ball home.(Celtic lose 4-2 on aggregate) 1984/85European Cup-Winners’ CupCeltic v Rapid ViennaThe first-leg over in Austria was a fairly basic European tie for Celtic, and, with the game sitting at 2-1 to Rapid as the final whistle neared, the Hoops could be reasonably pleased with the outcome. At least that was the case until three minutes from the end when Hans Krankl made it 3-1 to the home side. That left the Hoops with a slightly steeper challenge to surmount – but this team definitely had the resources to overcome the trial that lay in front of them. At the end of the night in the home leg, Celtic had won 3-0 to seemingly go through 4-3 on. In purely football terms, this looked like one of those magical European nights as the Celts pulled back the two-goal deficit before the break thanks to goals from Brian McClair and Murdo MacLeod. Celtic’s third goal arrived via Tommy Burns, but his challenge on the keeper was vehemently contested by the Rapid players. A later attack on Burns by the Rapid keeper resulted in a penalty award, which was missed by Peter Grant. Rapid Vienna appealed against the result, claiming one of their players had been hit by a missile thrown from the crowd – he hadn’t – and although the UEFA Disciplinary Committee initially upheld the result, another hearing inexplicably overturned the result and ordered a replay ‘not less than 150km from Celtic Park’. That game at Old Trafford saw the Austrian side win 1-0 to go through, and Celtic were further punished when they had to play their next European home game behind closed doors.(Celtic lost 4-1 on aggregate) 1997/98UEFA CupCeltic v Tirol InnsbruckInnsbruck were leading at home thanks to two first-half goals from Christian Mayrleb when, just six minutes from time, Alan Stubbs chose that moment to score his first Celtic goal, firing in a free-kick to give Celtic a vital away goal. The return leg at Celtic Park was a whirlwind affair, reminiscent of the 5-4 win over Partizan Belgrade in 1989 – although, this time there was no Celtic heartache. It also featured Henrik Larsson’s first ever goal at Celtic Park, but the problem was, it was at the wrong end. It was the Swede, though, who was at the centre of all that was good about Celtic. The sides swapped goals, with the aggregate scoreline 4-3 in the Austrian side’s favour at half-time. In the 69th minute, it was 4-4 after Donnelly scored from the spot following Larsson being brought down and, just a minute later, Celtic were in front in the tie for the first time when Craig Burley scored. However, Innsbruck scored again but with just three minutes remaining, Morten Wieghorst made it 6-5 to the Hoops. As the game reached the 94th minute, Henrik Larsson set up Craig Burley who swept home to make it 6-3 on the night and 7-5 on aggregate.(Celtic win 7-5 on aggregate) 2009/10UEFA Europa LeagueCeltic v Rapid ViennaThe opening game at Celtic Park saw the visitors take an early lead in the third minute through Nikica Jelavic, with Scott McDonald equalising for the Celts in the 21st minute and that was the way the scoring finished. There was much more goal action in the second game, but with little more than pride to play for on a freezing cold night at the Ernst Happel Stadium as the sides went into the game in third and fourth place. That the Celts consolidated their third place was due to a fantastic turnaround after being 3-0 down after only 19 minutes on the clock and it looked like it would be one of those nights. However, a chink of light appeared when Marc-Antoine Fortune pulled one back in the 24th minute. The second half started with the Celts still 3-1 down but, in the 67th minute, the deficit was reduced to one goal when Fortune struck again from close-range. The game had moved into stoppage time when Paul McGowan rounded off the fightback by making it 3-3 with a last-gasp goal.(Group stage 4-4 over the two games) 2014/15UEFA Europa LeagueCeltic v FC SalzburgGoals from debutant, Mubarak Wakaso and captain, Scott Brown sealed a deserved share of the spoils for Celtic in their opening UEFA Europa League match away to FC Salzburg. And Craig Gordon was in inspired form for Celtic between the sticks, performing heroics on several occasions to repel Salzburg. However, he could do nothing to prevent Jonatan Soriano salvaging a point for the home side with an unstoppable free-kick 12 minutes from time. In the corresponding fixture at Celtic Park, the Hoops qualified for the knockout stages of the UEFA Europa League despite slipping to a 3-1 defeat to Salzburg. The Austrians dominated the opening stages and scored two quick goals through Brazilian striker, Alan, within 15 minutes. Stefan Johansen replied for Celtic on the half-hour mark before substitute Naby Keita headed past Craig Gordon in stoppage time.(Group stage 5-3 to Salzburg over the two games) 2018/19UEFA Europa LeagueCeltic v FC SalzburgCeltic seemingly got off to the best of starts in the Austrian leg of the pairing when Odsonne Edouard opened the scoring after only two minutes, firing home from 12 yards to give the Celts a 1-0 lead. However, Munas Dabbur levelled 10 minutes after the break and, just six minutes after that, Takumi Minamino gave Salzburg the lead. In the 72nd minute, James Forrest was red-carded when his tackle on home captain, Andrea Ulmer stopped a clear goalscoring chance. Not only did Celtic lose Forrest, but Dabbur got his second when he scored from the resultant spot-kick and 3-1 was the final score. In the home game, Celtic left it late this time with Olivier Ntcham scoring in the 95th minute, although the game finished 2-1 in Salzburg’s favour.(Group stage 5-2 to Salzburg over the two games) Upcoming FixturesCeltic Vs. SK Puntigamer Sturm Graz – Sun, Oct 10th 2025, 12:00
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