IT ended in defeat for the young Hoops this afternoon as RB Leipzig avenged their loss in Germany last week to win 2-0 at the Excelsior Stadium today.
And it’s a huge blow for Darren O’Dea and Stephen McManus’ youngsters as the result leaves their qualification hopes now hanging by a thread.
Celtic found themselves a goal down after just 11 minutes when German midfielder Simon Schierack found the net with a terrific strike as he fired the ball into the top corner.
It then went from bad to worse for the Hoops as Leipzig doubled their lead through Ohene Kohl less than five minutes later.
Despite the early disappointment, Celtic had plenty of chances in the first half to get back into the match.
Rocco Vata was the danger man for the Parkhead side as he created several opportunities but all led to nothing.
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He set up Ben Summers and Adam Brooks in the opening half hour but they were unfortunate not to claw a goal back on the visitors.
Leipzig goalie Timo Schlieck denied Vata’s own effort moments later too.
A comeback looked unlikely as they approached half-time, but Mackenzie Carse’s red card, which reduced Celtic to 10 men, then made it almost impossible.
The midfielder was shown a second yellow on the brink of half-time after already committing a late challenge on Tino Kurt Kaufmann 10 minutes earlier.
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His foul on goalscorer Kohl then sent him his marching orders on the 45th minute.
Lepizig took advantage of the extra man in the second period as they continued to press high and create chances.
Celtic stopper Tobi Oluwayemi was called upon on several times to save his team from going further behind.
The Hoops looked to the bench in the second half with Daniel Kelly, Ben Quinn and Josh Dede coming on.
But they were unable to turn the tie around as they struggled to create as many chances as they did in the opening 30 minutes.
The loss leaves the young Hoops still dead last in Group F – their only points coming from their win in Germany last week.
And it means they will need something special to qualify for the next stage of the competition.
Real Madrid have ran away with the group so far and sit on 10 points while Shakhtar Donetsk are second on six.
Leipzig are directly above Celtic on four points and there’s just two matches remaining for each side.
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The Hoops face Shakhtar at home in their next fixture before making the trip to Spain to play Real Madrid in the final game of the group.
They need at least four points from their last two fixtures, and it goes down to head-to-head if sides are equal on points.
Three points would take them level on Shakhtar but they will need to beat the Ukrainians, otherwise it won’t be possible to catch them in the final game.
Celtic will hope there’s no upset in the tie between Real Madrid and Leipzig and the Spaniards take three points in Germany too.
Whatever happens in the final match between Leipzig and Shakhtar, one of the sides will then be on at least seven points.
If Leipzig win they will be on seven, if it’s a draw then it will be Shakhtar.
And a win for the Ukrainians will take them to nine.
As the decider between two clubs goes down to goal difference, the ideal scenario for the young Celts is that Leipzig lose to Madrid and the final game between the Germans and Shakhtar ends in a draw.
Celtic then need to beat Shakhtar by at least two goals at home and pull of a shock draw away to Real to go second in the group.
The two results will put them level with Shakhtar on points, but they will overtake them on head-to-head after Celtic’s 2-1 defeat in the second game of the group.
The Hoops face Shakhtar on Tuesday, October 25.
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