Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.
Shaun Maloney pushed back the suggestion that Celtic’s 7-1 victory over Scottish Premiership rivals Hearts was a “seismic” moment in their season.
Celtic moved four points clear at the top of the league table with a stunning performance at Parkhead, with Callum Osmand, Benjamin Nygren and Camilo Duran all impressing.
But Martin O’Neill’s side now turn their attention to Europe as they welcome Celta Vigo to Glasgow on Thursday, hoping to get their Europa League campaign up and running.
The Scottish champions are yet to win in Europe this season, losing to Ferencvaros before being thumped by Benfica 4-1 on MD2.
Celtic have lost their last three European matches, conceding 3+ goals in all three games (12 in total). They have only lost four in a row within a single season once before, doing so in the 2017-18 Champions League.
The two teams previously met in the 2002-03 UEFA Cup, with Celtic progressing on away goals after a 2-2 aggregate draw (1-0 home, 1-2 away defeat).
Maloney, taking over media duties while O’Neill took care of a personal matter, was asked if Sunday’s win was a turning point, but he replied: “No, it didn’t feel that seismic, Hearts.
“I know it was a really good performance. Some of the attacking stuff was really good, but it doesn’t feel like sort of big moment.”
We return to #UEL action on Thursday #CelticCeltaVigo | #CelticFC https://t.co/Ayb17YLtWx
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) October 20, 2026
Celta have lost both of their away European matches in Scotland, losing 1-0 both times at Aberdeen in 1971 and Celtic in 2002.
Claudio Giraldez’s side have also started their Europa League campaign with back-to-back defeats, the latest of which saw them squander a lead and lose 2-1 to Juventus.
The LaLiga side have lost their last two away Europa League matches, though they have not lost three in a row in major European competition since losing four between March 2001 and October 2002 in the UEFA Cup.
“It’s going to be a very different game. I think it sounds really simple, but some of the basics that we did – we had to outrun Hearts in certain areas, and we did,” Maloney added.
“The 50-50s came out on our side in that game. There are some fundamental things about a game of football that we got right in that game, we got right in the second half of Benfica, and those sorts of things are probably the challenges we’ve had since the start of the season.
“With the ball, we can be really creative. We just need to have the same level without the ball consistently, and against Hearts we did. We’ll definitely need that [against Celta].
“I think if we can get a really committed team with and without the ball, then we can definitely win this game.
“Celta are a good side, and they can definitely hurt you. So we need both sides, and I just want to see us continue on from the last seven to 10 days on that.”
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