Feyenoord vs Celtic match facts

Group E of the 2023/24 UEFA Champions League kicks off with a repeat of the 1970 European Cup final as Feyenoord – who claimed their only triumph in the competition 53 years ago – welcome Celtic to Rotterdam.

The Dutch champions are ending a five-season absence from the group stage – indeed, this is only their second appearance in 21 years – while their Scottish counterparts are featuring for the second season in a row but failed to win a game in 2022/23 and have only one victory in their last 21 group matches.

Lazio and Atlético de Madrid are also involved in Group E.

Previous meetings 

That 1970 final is the sides' only previous fixture, Feyenoord becoming the first Dutch side to lift the European Cup with a 2-1 extra-time victory at San Siro in Milan. Tommy Gemmell's 30th-minute opener was cancelled out two minutes later by Feyenoord captain Rinus Israël, Ove Kindvall finally settling the contest with a 117th-minute winner.

Form guide

Feyenoord

Record vs Scottish clubs: W6 D2 L2 F16 A9
Home record vs Scottish clubs: W4 D1 L0

Feyenoord's last fixture against Scottish opponents ended their 100% home record in the fixtures, Celtic's Glasgow rivals Rangers earning a 2-2 draw in Rotterdam in the 2019/20 UEFA Europa League group stage.

Feyenoord had won all four previous home matches against Scottish clubs, scoring nine goals and conceding only two.

The Rotterdammers got the better of Rangers in the fourth round of their victorious UEFA Cup campaign in 2001/02, winning 3-2 in the home second leg after a 1-1 draw in Glasgow.

Feyenoord are returning to the Champions League group stage for the first time since making their fifth appearance in 2017/18.

A team coached by Giovanni van Bronckhorst finished bottom of their section six seasons ago, going down home and away against both Manchester City and Shakhtar Donetsk while also losing at Napoli, their sole success a 2-1 home win against the Italian side.

European champions in 1970, Feyenoord have never reached the Champions League knockout rounds, although they did make it as far as the second group stage in 1999/2000.

Runners-up to Roma in the first UEFA Europa Conference League final in 2021/22, Feyenoord's European campaign was also ended by the Italian side last season, in the Europa League quarter-finals (1-0 h, 1-4 a aet). They had finished first in Group F, with all four teams ending on eight points, before beating Shakhtar Donetsk 8-2 on aggregate in the round of 16, winning the second leg 7-1 at home.

Feyenoord won four of their five home European games in 2022/23, stretching their unbeaten run in continental fixtures in Rotterdam to 14 matches (W12 D2).

Arne Slot's side finished seven points clear at the top of the 2022/23 Eredivisie, claiming Feyenoord's 16th league title and just a second since 1999.

Celtic

Record vs Dutch clubs: W8 D2 L7 F26 A22
Away record vs Dutch clubs: W3 D1 L4

Celtic lost 2-1 at AZ Alkmaar in their last fixture against a Dutch club, in the 2021/22 UEFA Europa League qualifying play-off second leg, but went through having won 2-0 at home.

That made it four games without a win in the Netherlands (D1 L3), since a 3-1 victory at Ajax in the 2001/02 Champions League third qualifying round first leg that was their third win in their first four away games against Dutch clubs.

That 2021 win against AZ is the Hoops' only victory in their last five games against Eredivisie teams (D1 L3).

Celtic are in the Champions League group stage for the 12th time, one more than local rivals Rangers, and the second season in a row.

The Bhoys returned to the group stage for the first time in five seasons in 2022/23, but finished bottom of Group F having failed to win a game. Their only points came from two 1-1 draws against Shakhtar Donetsk, holders Real Madrid and Leipzig beating them home and away.

The first British club to win the European Cup in 1967, and runners-up to Feyenoord three years later, Celtic have reached the Champions League knockout stages three times, all those campaigns ending in the round of 16, most recently in 2012/13 against Juventus (0-3 h, 0-2 a).

Celtic have won only one of their last eight European away games, losing six.

A 3-0 win at Anderlecht on Matchday 2 in 2017/18 is one of only two Celtic victories in their last 26 games in the Champions League, group stage to final (D5 L19).

That victory at Anderlecht is also the Hoops' only win in their last 15 away games in the Champions League proper (D3 L11).

Celtic claimed their 53rd Scottish League title, and an 11th in 12 seasons, in 2022/23, Ange Postecoglou's side finishing on 99 points, seven above runners-up Rangers. The Hoops also won the Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup, claiming the domestic treble for the eighth time and a fifth in seven seasons.

Postecoglou departed for Tottenham Hotspur in the summer, Brendan Rodgers – who was previously in charge at Celtic between May 2016 and February 2019, winning two league titles, two Scottish Cups and three Scottish League Cups – returning as his replacement on a three-year contract.

Links and trivia

International team-mates:
Ayase Ueda & Kyogo Furuhashi, Daizen Maeda, Reo Hatate (Japan)

Wim Jansen, part of the Feyenoord side that beat Celtic in the 1970 European Cup final, managed the Scottish side in 1997/98, leading the Hoops to the domestic title.

Jansen also signed Henrik Larsson from Feyenoord, the Swede going on to score 242 goals for Celtic during his seven years in Glasgow's east end.

Former Feyenoord striker Pierre van Hooijdonk scored the winning goal as Celtic won the 1995 Scottish Cup.

Latest news

Feyenoord

Summer signings 
In: Thomas Beelen (PEC Zwolle), Calvin Stengs (Nice), Yankuba Minteh (Newcastle, loan), Thomas van den Belt (Zwolle), Timon Wellenreuther (Anderlecht), Ramiz Zerrouki (Twente), Ayase Ueda (Cercle Brugge), Kostas Lamprou (Willem II), Antef Tsoungui (Brighton), Bart Nieuwkoop (Union SG), Ondřej Lingr (Slavia Praha, loan), Luka Ivanušec (Dinamo Zagreb)
Out: Orkun Kökcü (Benfica), Marouan Azarkan (Utrecht), Ofir Marciano (Beer-Sheva), Christian Conteh (Osnabrück), Mark Diemers (released), Róbert Boženík (Boavista, loan made permanent), Mohamed Taabouni (Al-Arabi), Mimeirhel Benita (Excelsior, loan), Danilo (Rangers), Ezequiel Bullaude (Boca Juniors, loan), Marcus Pedersen (Sassuolo, loan), Patrik Wålemark (Heerenveen, loan), Ramon Hendriks (Vitesse, loan), Neraysho Kasanwirjo (Rapid Wien, loan), Mark Diemers (AEK Larnaca), Francesco Antonucci (Al-Shahania)

Feyenoord made a slow start to the defence of their Eredivisie title, drawing their first two matches at home to Fortuna Sittard (0-0) and away at Rotterdam rivals Sparta (2-2).

They then scored 11 times in their next two games, beating Almere City 6-1 at home and Utrecht 5-1 away.

The Rotterdam club were 6-1 winners at home to Heerenveen on Saturday. They scored three times in the first 20 minutes, the first team to do so in successive Eredivisie home matches since Ajax in 1995.

Feyenoord have scored five or more goals in three consecutive matches for only the second time, the first having been in October 1958.

Santiago Giménez is the Eredivisie's top scorer, having found the net six times in five appearances. He is suspended for the first two Champions League Group E games.

Feyenoord were defeated 1-0 by Dutch Cup winners PSV Eindhoven in the Johan Cruyff Schaal on 4 August.

Striker Ayasa Ueda suffered a muscle injury during Japan's 4-1 friendly victory in Germany on 9 September. The Feyenoord forward had scored the visitors' second goal but missed Feyenoord's weekend win.

First-choice keeper Justin Bijlow has not played since 13 August due to a broken wrist that is expected to keep him out until the end of October.

Celtic

Summer signings
In: Odin Thiago Holm (Vålerenga), Marco Tilio (Melbourne City), Hyun-jun Yang (Gangwon), Tomoki Iwata (Yokohama F. Marinos, loan made permanent), Kwon Hyeok-kyu (Busan IPark), Maik Nawrocki (Legia Warszawa), Gustaf Lagerbielke (Elfsborg), Luis Palma (Aris), Nat Phillips (Liverpool, loan), Paulo Bernardo (Benfica, loan)
Out: Vasilios Barkas (released), Aaron Mooy (retired), Jota (Al-Ittihad), Conor Hazard (Plymouth), Osaze Urhoghide (Amiens), Carl Starfelt (Celta Vigo), Ismaila Soro (Beitar Jerusalem), Sead Hakšabanović (Stoke, loan), Albian Ajeti (Gaziantep)

Having won 3-0 at home to Dundee on Saturday, Celtic are top of the Scottish Premiership with 13 points from their first five games (W4 D1).

Kyogo Furuhashi got the second at the weekend and also scored the only goal at Rangers in the first Old Firm derby of the season on 3 September. He already has four league goals in 2023/24.

Celtic relinquished their hold on the Scottish League Cup on 23 August, losing 0-1 to Kilmarnock at Rugby Park. They had won the trophy six times in the previous seven seasons.

Nat Phillips made his Celtic debut on Saturday but was withdrawn at half-time as a precaution after an ankle knock.

Reo Hatate suffered a calf injury after coming on as a substitute in a 3-1 win at Aberdeen on 13 August, returning as a substitute on Saturday.

Cameron Carter-Vickers underwent knee surgery at the end of last season, returning to action at the start of the season, but has not played since going off with a hamstring injury at half-time in the same match at Pittodrie.

Stephen Welsh has also not played since that game in Aberdeen due to a knee problem.

Liel Abada returned early from international duty with Israel having sustained a thigh injury in training and is expected to be out for three to four months.

Palma scored a penalty as Honduras beat Grenada 4-0 in the CONCACAF Nations League on 13 September.

Lagerbielke was called up by Sweden for the first time in a competitive fixture although the defender did not feature in the UEFA EURO 2024 qualifiers against Estonia and Austria.

Hyun-jun Yang made his South Korea debut as a late substitute in a 0-0 friendly draw against Wales on 7 September.