Celtic standing the junction of renewal and reckoning

After one of the most tumultuous openings to a season the club has endured in recent years, an underwhelming summer window, alongside results that drifted into the unacceptable, and Brendan Rodgers walking away with the team eight points off the pace, Celtic now find ourselves revitalised under the most unlikely of caretaker regimes.

Martin O’Neill, returned like a retired statesman pulled back into temporary service, and Shaun Maloney, with a coaching outlook influenced through time spent beside Roberto Martínez, have steadied a ship that had begun to list somewhat.

Celtic enter this Europa League tie on the back of two wins that felt less like routine victories and more like reboots. Falkirk were swept aside with long lost efficiency, and then theRangers were beaten at Hampden with a gallus swagger few supporters saw coming. Celtic are now playing with life, aggression and urgency again, to the point you could almost feel the whole club exhale when the final whistle went at Hampden.

But if those games were the warm-up, this one in Herning is the exam. Tonight, put simply, Celtic face the best footballing team they have met all season.

While Celtic were wrestling with internal tensions and slipping form, FC Midtjylland were quietly assembling one of the most formidable records anywhere in Europe. One defeat in their opening 25 matches across domestic and European competition is the sort of consistency Celtic supporters know well from our own peaks but have not seen anything like this season.

Eighteen wins, six draws, and a style of play built on intensity and stoic organisation have made them a side you cannot dismiss as simply a tough away trip. They are top of the Europa League league phase for a reason, and not just because they’re efficient, they also have belief, momentum and identity that very few clubs manage to carry this far into a season.

And yet, even with such form, the club chose to sack Thomas Thomasberg, a decision that stunned Danish football. Thomasberg had delivered trophies and second places, but Midtjylland’s hierarchy wanted more. In stepped Mike Tullberg, and if ever a mid-season gamble paid off instantly, this is it. Nine wins, two draws and a solitary defeat, his first game in charge, in his first dozen games tell the story. The Danes haven’t lost at home since March. They haven’t dropped a point in Europe. They’ve also reinforced the very strengths that already made them dangerous.

This is the opponent Celtic meet tonight, this is the magnitude of the test, and this is the stage Martin O’Neill steps on to this evening.

What makes the occasion even more intriguing is the philosophical pivot Celtic are currently going through. Under Rodgers, Celtic were about control, possession, structure and plenty of patience. But that control vanished as summer frustrations bled onto the pitch, and games that once felt routine became uncertain. When O’Neill and Maloney stepped in, they didn’t try to mimic Rodgers, instead, they unlocked something different, verticality, aggression, speed and transition football. A willingness to move forward with real purpose rather than circle endlessly looking for signs of openings.

There is an element of controlled chaos in Celtic now, a spark supporters’ old enough to remember, recognise from O’Neill’s first spell. But tonight, ironically, could be the night that kind of game plays into Midtjylland’s hands. They thrive in the frantic, they want the match to scatter into loose balls, second phases and quick strikes. So, Celtic cannot simply run at them headlong. We will need a blend tonight, the intensity that O’Neill and Maloney have revived, yes, but also the composure and calm that Rodgers demanded. A return of some of the water, without extinguishing the fire. Likely a big ask.

This is where Maloney’s influence perhaps becomes crucial. He understands transitional football at the elite level from his time with Belgium, and beside him O’Neill can read the emotional temperature of the match perhaps only a veteran can. Between them, Celtic must fashion a plan that hits both notes, aggression when the moment opens, composure when Midtjylland attempt to drag Celtic into their rhythm, their game.

The Celtic XI is expected to reflect this balance.

Kasper Schmeichel brings experience in goal, calmness, communication, and the ability to settle the defence in the more frantic moments. At the back, Anthony Ralston’s relentless work rate on the right and the promising pairing of Liam Scales and Auston Trusty in the centre will be vital against a Midtjylland side that love early crosses and quick diagonal switches, something both central defenders thrived on against Atalanta last season. On the left, either Marcelo Saracchi or Kieran Tierney provides energy, recovery pace and attacking thrust, but it may be a night for the composure of the latter.

In midfield, the shape is likely to behave as a 4-2-3-1, even if the team sheet calls it a 4-3-3. Callum McGregor is the pivot around which all tempo will turn. Alongside him, Arne Engels adds the athleticism, range and vertical passing Celtic will need to escape Midtjylland’s press. Ahead of them, Benjamin Nygren is crucial, he will need to be sharp between the lines, linking play and supporting the front three. This is a night Nygren simply must be tight in possession.

The attacking trio brings its own balance of attributes. Daizen Maeda, for all the debates around end product, gives Celtic our own unpredictability on the counter attack. On the opposite flank, Seb Tounekti offers finesse and directness, a winger who can commit defenders. And in the centre, Johnny Kenny, seemingly rejuvenated under O’Neill, steps onto the European stage after scoring three goals in two games under the new regime. This is a young striker playing above the weight class many expected of him, but his European scoring record in The Conference League with Shamrock Rovers was impressive. Tonight is a step up, but this is a player who has been stepping up of late. There’s no reason he can’t continue that upward trajectory.

From the bench, Celtic also have options that can reshape the match. James Forrest with all his nous, Michel-Ange Balikwisha, whose ability to stretch defences could be priceless late on, Callum Osmand – now added to the European squad – if Celtic need fresh, direct and quick legs later on in the game, and Reo Hatate, a potential stabiliser in the final third if the match rhythm becomes too frantic, or if Nygren is too loose.

For all their strengths, Midtjylland are not without vulnerabilities. Injuries to Ovie Ejeheri, Edward Chilufya and Adam Gabriel weaken their depth. But their main weapons remain intact. Franculino Dju is on a staggering run of form—16 goals in 18 appearances— form that has seen Everton scout him extensively, and Celtic cannot afford a single lapse around him. Midtjylland press well, transition quickly, and are genuinely ruthless if allowed shots from central areas. As Nottingham Forest found to their cost.

But Celtic do not come to Denmark merely to survive, this is a game where intent is everything.

A win transforms Celtic’s European ambitions, keeping the knockout phase firmly in our hands. A draw, given the opponent’s pedigree, keeps momentum alive and belief intact. A defeat makes life more complicated than it needs to be, but it would not define the O’Neill–Maloney rebuild.

This is a test of Celtic’s courage and intelligence, a night for balance and bravery, a night when the interim managers must show they are more than caretakers, and the players must show they can meet one of Europe’s form sides cleverly, Midtjylland being one of only three teams yet to drop a point in the league phase, alongside both Lyon and Braga.

A point would be earned, and a win would be enormous. But what matters above all is that Celtic arrive ready to compete, ready to challenge, ready to remind Europe that we may have taken time to find our stride this season, but we very much carry our own threat now.

Celtic in the Eighties by David Potter, signed copies by Danny McGrain available from celticstarbooks.com 

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