Mika Baur did not try to dress up Celtic’s 2-1 defeat to Celta Vigo after another damaging European night at Parkhead.

Haissem Hassan’s cross from the right caused problems in the Celta box, the ball broke kindly, and Baur kept his composure to finish well.

See the Celtic fixtures for 2026/27 for what comes next.

For a short spell after that, Celtic had energy and the crowd was back in the game.

But it did not last.

Javi Rodriguez headed Celta level from a free-kick, then struck again from distance just minutes later after Celtic failed to clear their lines.

Speaking to TNT Sports after the match, Baur was blunt about what went wrong.

He said: “Very disappointing in the end.

“We scored and I thought we had a good 10 minutes.

“We were too passive.

“They dominated us in our own half, around our own box.

“We had no control with the ball.

“We defended it not well enough.

“I think how we played the second half, or the last 30 minutes, it’s deserved in the end.”

Celtic had moments, especially through Baur, Hassan and Callum Osmand, but after going 1-0 up they could not keep the ball well enough or move the game away from their own box.

The most worrying spell came after the equaliser.

Celta’s two goals arrived within a few minutes of each other, and Celtic never looked settled once Rodriguez’s header went in.

Asked why Celtic lost control, Baur said: “I cannot tell you. I’m sorry.

“I have no idea.”

He was then asked whether Celtic needed to slow the game down at 1-1 and take the momentum away from Celta.

Baur said: “Absolutely.

“It can happen that you get a goal. They can score as well, good team.

“You should then get the control back, hold the ball a bit longer to take the momentum away from them.

“Like us, we had the momentum after our goal. It’s always like that.

“You should break that, but we did not.”

Celtic were 1-0 up at home in a game they badly needed to win. Instead of making Celta chase, they dropped deeper and gave the Spanish side more and more of the ball.

Baur’s honesty will be appreciated, but the table now makes grim reading.

Asked whether Celtic can still qualify, Baur said: “What else should we do? Absolutely.

“There are still games ahead.

“We do all our best to qualify for the next round.

“It’s not getting easier with the loss again.

“We need points. That’s easy.”

That is the only way to look at it now.

Celtic have left themselves with almost no room for error. Good spells are not enough, and neither are hard-luck moments.

They need points, and they need them quickly.