Celtic went into the game against RB Leipzig knowing that they needed something out of it. Ultimately, they were not up to the task away in Germany. Although the Hoops had their fair share of chances, they once again were not clinical enough in front of goal. On the other hand, the Bundesliga side seemed to have just too much quality in the final third of the pitch.
Christopher Nkunku scored the opener while Andre Silva added a brace as well. For Celtic, Jota managed to end the hoodoo by scoring. Their only other strike in this Champions League campaign was an own goal vs Shakhtar Donetsk.
The result means that Celtic are left at the bottom of the group. Thus, their hopes of qualifying to the knockout rounds are hanging by a thread, if that, and there are serious questions about whether they will even be able to come third and get into the Europa League.
Of course, one cannot overlook the bad luck that Celtic had coming into this game as well, with their first-choice centre-back duo of Cameron Carter-Vickers and Carl Starfelt out injured. In their absence, the partnership of Moritz Jenz and Stephen Welsh had not exactly flourished and one can only wonder if things would have ended up differently if Carter-Vickers and Starfelt, or even one of them, would have been available on this occasion.
Celtic sink vs RB Leipzig due to three reasons
Another thing that must be pointed out is the mistakes that Celtic made on the night and surprisingly, it came from two of their most experienced players.
A heavy touch from McGregor allowed RB Leipzig to score the opener, just when Celtic were starting to assert themselves in the game.
Then Joe Hart made a terrible mistake for the second. The Englishman was never considered as great with his feet and that was on full display here, as he passed straight to an RB Leipzig player to send them through on goal.
For the third one, Celtic were just completely outplayed and there was not much that could have been done.
Overall, the performance was not bad but we cannot keep repeating that every week. At some point, the Hoops need to convert these into points.