Celtic vs Lazio match facts

Celtic will need to improve on their UEFA Champions League home form as they bid to revive their Group E challenge at home to a Lazio side buoyed by a dramatic late point on Matchday 1.

While the Scottish champions were going down 2-0 at Dutch counterparts Feyenoord in their opening fixture – ending with nine men following second-half red cards for Gustaf Lagerbielke and Odin Thiago Holm – Lazio were snatching a last-gasp 1-1 draw against Atlético de Madrid in Rome thanks to a 95th-minute equaliser from Ivan Provedel – just the fourth goalkeeper to score in Champions League history.

Previous meetings 

The teams' only fixtures came in the 2019/20 UEFA Europa League group stage, Celtic winning 2-1 both home and away. The Hoops came from behind in Glasgow on Matchday 3, Manuel Lazzari giving Lazio a 40th-minute lead that was cancelled out by Ryan Christie in the 67th minute before Christopher Jullien's 89th-minute winner.

Lazio also scored first at the Stadio Olimpico two weeks later through Ciro Immobile's seventh-minute opener, James Forrest replying in the 38th minute. Celtic again snatched the win in the closing stages, substitute Olivier Ntcham applying the decisive blow five minutes into added time.

Those six points helped Celtic finish top of the section on 13, one ahead of Romanian side CFR Cluj; Lazio were eliminated in third place on six points.

Form guide

Celtic

Record vs Italian clubs: W7 D8 L14 F27 A42
Home record vs Italian clubs: W5 D5 L4

This is Celtic's first game against a Serie A side since the 2020/21 Europa League group stage, when they lost 3-1 at home to AC Milan and – despite scoring twice in the first 14 minutes to lead 2-0 – 4-2 away.

Their 2019 wins against Lazio ended a nine-match run (D3 L6) without a victory against Italian clubs, home and away.

Celtic have won only two of their last nine home games against Italian visitors (D4 L3).

The Scottish side's first game against a Serie A side was also the most famous, Jock Stein's team claiming Britain's first European Cup with a 2-1 win against Inter in the 1967 final in Lisbon.

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 are without a home in ten home Champions League group games, since a 2-1 defeat of Ajax on Matchday 4 in 2013/14; their record since then is D2 L8.

A 3-0 win at Anderlecht on Matchday 2 in 2017/18 is one of only two Celtic victories in their last 27 games in the Champions League, group stage to final (D5 L20).

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.

Lazio

Their 2019 meetings with Celtic are Lazio's only games against a Scottish side.

Lazio are in the Champions League group stage for the first time since 2020/21, when they finished second in their section behind Borussia Dortmund and went out to another German club, Bayern München, in the round of 16 (1-4 h, 1-2 a).

This is the Rome club's seventh group appearance overall but only a second in the last 16 seasons.

Lazio took part in the Europa League in 2022/23, finishing third in Group F behind Feyenoord and Midtjylland – all four teams in the section, including eliminated Sturm Graz, ending on eight points – to move into the Europa Conference League. They edged out CFR Cluj in the knockout round play-offs (1-0 h, 0-0 a), but then lost 1-2 home and away against AZ Alkmaar in the last 16.

The Italian club are without a win in nine away games in the Champions League, group stage to final, since a 2-0 victory at Beşiktaş on Matchday 1 in 2003/04.

Lazio are, however, unbeaten in their last seven Champions League group stage matches overall (W2 D5).

Lazio's last away European victory was a 3-0 success at Lokomotiv Moskva on Matchday 5 of the 2021/22 Europa League, their only win in their last 17 away games (D6 L11); their record since is D2 L4.

Maurizio Sarri's side were second in Serie A last season, 16 points behind leaders Napoli. It was their highest league finish since claiming their second title in 1999/2000.

Links and trivia

Pedro Rodríguez scored in Barcelona's 6-1 home win against Celtic on Matchday 6 of the 2013/14 Champions League having also started the 1-0 win in Glasgow on Matchday 2. Pedro also started Barcelona's 2-1 home group win the previous season, and the 2-1 defeat in Glasgow.

Joe Hart made 36 Serie A appearances on loan for Torino in 2016/17. He conceded five goals in his two games against Lazio (2-2 h, 1-3 a).

International team-mates:
Kyogo Furuhashi, Daizen Maeda, Reo Hatate & Daichi Kamada (Japan)
Matt O'Riley & Gustav Isaksen (Denmark Under-21)

Kamada was in the Eintracht Frankfurt side that beat Rangers on penalties in the 2022 Europa League final.

Latest news

Celtic

Summer transfers
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)

The Glasgow club made it four successive league wins on Saturday with a dramatic 2-1 victory at Motherwell, all the goals coming in the final minutes. After an 87th-minute opener from substitute Luis Palma was cancelled out five minutes into added time, Matt O'Riley struck in the 97th minute to give the visitors victory.

Celtic won 3-0 at Livingston on 23 September to remain at the top of the Scottish Premiership despite playing for over an hour with ten men after Joe Hart was sent off for a professional foul.

Hart's red card, together with the dismissals of Gustaf Lagerbielke and Odin Thiago Holm against Feyenoord four days earlier, means Celtic have already equalled their tally of three sendings-off from last season.

James Forrest started his first game since a 2-2 draw at Rangers on 2 January only to be substituted on 28 minutes following Hart's red card.

O'Riley also scored in that game and has five for the season, one more than with Kyogo Furuhashi with the pair also contributing two assists.

The Hoops have won six of their seven league games this season, dropping points only in a 0-0 draw at home to St. Johnstone on 26 August.

Brendan Rodgers' side had kept four successive clean sheets in the league before the weekend, and had not conceded in 515 minutes going back to 13 August.

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.

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 a 3-1 win at Aberdeen on 13 August.

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 on 8 September and is expected to be out for three to four months.

Anthony Ralston has signed a new four-year deal which will keep the 24-year-old defender at Celtic until 2027. O'Riley (2027) and Reo Hatate (2028) have also agreed contract extensions.

Lazio

Summer transfers
In: Matteo Cancellieri (Verona, loan made permanent), Diego González (Celaya, loan made permanent), Valentín Castellanos (New York City), Daichi Kamada (free agent), Nicolò Rovella (Juventus, loan), Luca Pellegrini (Juventus, loan), Luigi Sepe (Salernitana, loan), Matteo Guendouzi (Marseille, loan), Christos Mandas (OFI Crete), Gustav Isaksen (Midtjylland)

Out: Francesco Acerbi (Inter, loan made permanent), Emanuele Cicerelli (Reggina, loan made permanent), Riza Durmisi (released), Gonzalo Escalante (Cádiz, loan made permanent), Raúl Moro (Valladolid), Pedro (released), Ștefan Radu (retired), Luka Romero (released), Sergej Milinković-Savić (Al-Hilal), Matteo Cancellieri (Empoli, loan), Luís Maximiano (Almería, loan), Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro (Monza, loan), Marcos Antonio (PAOK, loan), Mohamed Fares (Brescia, loan)

Lazio's Serie A record this season is W2 D1 L4. They went down 2-0 at AC Milan on Saturday.

A Ciro Immobile penalty was only enough for a 1-1 draw at home to Monza on 23 September.

Immobile has had 250 goal involvements (goals or assists) in the top five European leagues since 2012/13. He is the first Italian to achieve this milestone and the eighth player in total after Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Robert Lewandowski, Luis Suárez, Karim Benzema, Harry Kane and Moahmed Salah.

Lazio took only four points from their first five games in Serie A (W1 D1 L3) scoring five goals and conceding eight. That represented their worst start to a Serie A campaign since 2001/02, when they also had four points after five matches.

On 27 September Lazio got their second Serie A win of the season as goals from Matías Vecino and Mattia Zaccagni earned a 2-0 home win against Torino.

That was the first clean sheet of the season in all competitions for Maurizio Sarri's men and only the second game in which they scored more than one goal, the other their other win this season, 2-1 win at champions Napoli on 2 September.

Vecino has scored at least one goal in each of his 11 seasons in Serie A.

Immobile started on the bench on Saturday due to a minor muscle injury.

Alessio Romagnoli broke his nose against Torino and wore a protective face mask against Milan.