Rosenborg v Celtic facts

Defeated in all of their first four UEFA Europa League Group B matches, Rosenborg are still not mathematically eliminated but will need to beat Celtic in Trondheim – and hope for a favourable result elsewhere – to keep their slim hopes of qualification alive. The Scottish champions, meanwhile, could move into second place with a positive result in Trondheim.

• Beaten twice in a fortnight by group leaders Salzburg (0-3 away, 2-5 home), Rosenborg will be keen to avoid a first ever UEFA group stage whitewash. Their worst previous effort was in the 1999/2000 UEFA Champions League second group stage, when they collected a single point from their six games.

• Celtic have won two and lost two of their four matches. They are level on six points with RB Leipzig but have an inferior head-to-head record, having beaten the German side 2-1 at home on matchday four after a 0-2 away defeat two weeks earlier. If they lose in Trondheim and Leipzig win at Salzburg, the Scottish side will be eliminated.

Previous meetings
• Victors at home on matchday one (1-0) thanks to a late Leigh Griffiths strike, Celtic have now recorded six wins and two draws in their nine matches against Rosenborg. This is their third trip to Trondheim in the past two seasons and they have kept clean sheets in both of the previous two, winning 1-0 in last term's UEFA Champions League third qualifying round and drawing 0-0 in the second qualifying round of the same competition this summer to complete aggregate victories in both ties.

• Celtic's only previous visit to Norway in the UEFA Europa League resulted in a 3-1 defeat by Molde in the 2015/16 group stage, while Rosenborg's lone previous match in this competition against Scottish visitors was a 0-1 home defeat by St Johnstone in the 2013/14 second qualifying round, which prompted a 1-2 aggregate defeat – the Trondheim club's earliest European exit this decade.

Form guide
Rosenborg
• A record 25th Norwegian title in 2017 – which was supplemented by a 26th earlier this month – earned Rosenborg a place in this season's UEFA Champions League qualifying phase. After going out to Celtic they won all four of their UEFA Europa League qualifiers against Cork City and Shkëndija to secure a second successive season in the group stage.

• Rosenborg finished third in their UEFA Europa League group last season – behind Zenit and Real Sociedad – and have yet to progress into the knockout phase in four previous attempts. Indeed every one of their last 12 European group stage participations across all competitions has been unsuccessful.

• The Trondheim club have scored three goals in five of their last ten UEFA home fixtures, emerging victorious in each case. However, they have won only two of their 11 UEFA Europa League group games on Norwegian soil, losing seven including each of the last three.

Celtic
• Celtic won the Scottish treble of Premiership, Scottish Cup and League Cup for the second successive season in 2017/18, but they were unable to secure a hat-trick of UEFA Champions League group stage appearances this term, their elimination of Rosenborg followed by defeat to AEK Athens. A 4-1 aggregate victory over Lithuanian champions Sūduva in the UEFA Europa League play-offs maintained Celtic's post-summer interest in Europe.

• This is Celtic's fifth season in the UEFA Europa League group stage. Three of their four previous campaigns have ended in elimination, the exception 2014/15, when they reached the round of 32. They also got to that stage of the competition last season after finishing third in their UEFA Champions League group, but lost to Zenit.

• The Glasgow club have never won away from home in the UEFA Europa League – with the exception of a 3-0 forfeit win at Sion in the 2011/12 play-offs after they had lost the original game 3-1. Their other 18 matches in all stages of the competition have brought nine defeats and nine draws.

Links and trivia 
• Celtic's Swedish international defender Mikael Lustig played for Rosenborg between 2008 and 2012, winning two league titles.

• Rosenborg's Matthías Vilhjálmsson and Celtic's Kristoffer Ajer played together in the 2014 and 2015 Norwegian top flight for IK Start. Ajer is a current Norwegian international and team-mate of Rosenborg's Even Hovland, Tore Reginiussen and Birger Meling.

• Rosenborg clinched their fourth domestic league title in a row with a 1-0 win at Start on 11 November. They are also through to the Norwegian Cup final on 2 December against Strømsgodset, having defeated Start 2-1 in the semi-final on 1 November.

• Celtic will also be involved in a domestic cup final on 2 December as they take on Aberdeen in the Scottish League Cup decider at Hampden Park. They are seeking a first hat-trick in the competition since they lifted the trophy five years in a row from 1965/66–1969/70.

The coaches
• A defender who played for Go Ahead Eagles, Heracles, De Graafschap and AZ Alkmaar in his native Netherlands, Rini Coolen has over 20 years of coaching experience, albeit mostly as an assistant. Before taking over as Rosenborg's interim boss in July 2018 following the dismissal of Kåre Ingebrigtsen – and steering the club to another Eliteserien title – his last head coach role had been a brief stint at the helm of the Aruba national team in 2015. He has also worked in Australia and Dubai.

• Celtic's Northern Irish boss Brendan Rodgers retired early as a player but made his name in management at Swansea, steering the Welsh club into England's top flight before leaving for Liverpool in June 2012. He led the Reds to a Premier League runners-up spot in 2013/14 but was dismissed in October 2015, resurfacing at Celtic, where he won the Scottish treble with an undefeated record in his first season. All three trophies were successfully defended in 2017/18, making Rodgers the first Hoops manager to win the 'Double Treble'.