Callum McGregor, Celtic's captain, delivered a damning verdict on his team's performance following their 3-0 defeat to Rangers in the League Cup quarter-final at Ibrox on Sunday, 13 September 2026. Having entered the match with an unblemished domestic record, Celtic were thoroughly outplayed by their Glasgow rivals in a display that McGregor felt lacked the fundamental unity required to compete at the highest level.
"You saw a team and you saw a team of individuals."McGregor's assessment was particularly pointed, highlighting the gulf between Rangers' coordinated approach and Celtic's fragmented efforts.
"Rangers were a team and we looked like a team of individuals who wanted to do our own thing, play when we got the ball and not necessarily run when we don't have the ball,"he explained.
"That's the one thing you can't do when you come here, is not run. You can't defend with six players, it's impossible."
The midfielder's frustration reflected a broader pattern of defensive vulnerability that has plagued Martin O'Neill's squad this season. This latest setback follows an earlier collapse in the Champions League qualifying rounds, where Celtic surrendered a 4-0 aggregate advantage against LASK, a result that had already raised serious questions about the team's resilience in crucial matches.
What went wrong at Ibrox?
Celtic's collapse began almost immediately, with Rangers' Dan Neil opening the scoring after just 23 minutes. The goal came as a result of two significant errors from Celtic goalkeeper Sam Johnstone, though the visiting side managed to avoid further immediate punishment. McGregor acknowledged that the early concession proved decisive.
"When we went behind we never looked like recovering to be honest,"he said.
"We had a couple of moments early on and if we take them it's a different game."
Beyond the goalkeeper's mistakes, Celtic's midfield control deteriorated rapidly. The team repeatedly surrendered possession in their own half, creating opportunities for Rangers to launch devastating counter-attacks. McGregor described the performance as
"poor in pretty much every area"at Ibrox, with the forwards offering minimal attacking threat throughout the 90 minutes.
How did Celtic lose control of the match?
The root cause of Celtic's collapse lay in their inability to dominate possession and dictate play.
"If you want to impose yourself on the game, you need to be good on the ball and we never quite did that,"McGregor reflected.
"It wasn't massive pressure either. It was careless and slack, we kept turning the ball over for counter-attacks, which they were good at to be fair."
This pattern of careless play proved catastrophic against an opponent as clinical as Rangers. Rather than suffocating their rivals with possession and pressing, Celtic allowed Rangers to dictate the tempo and exploit the spaces left behind by their disorganised shape.
What comes next for Celtic?
Celtic face an immediate opportunity to respond to this humiliation. According to Sky Sports, the club will begin their UEFA Europa League campaign at home to Ferencváros on Thursday, 17 September 2026, with kickoff at 20:00 BST. This fixture offers a chance to rebuild confidence before the next Old Firm encounter in the Scottish Premiership the following weekend, which should mark McGregor's 50th derby appearance.
McGregor stressed the importance of an immediate turnaround.
"We're trying to get the message to everyone that we have to be a team and we need to find a way to do that quickly because we lost a big game to LASK and lost another one today,"he said.
"We've put ourselves under pressure and we need to respond on Thursday and again on Sunday. If we want to be a good Celtic team, we need to win the big games. We've been bitty so far and we need to fix it."
According to ESPN's match data, the Rangers defeat represents the latest in a concerning sequence of results, with the Ferencváros fixture marking Celtic's next competitive test. FotMob's records show that Celtic hold a 2-1 head-to-head advantage over the Hungarian side, though such historical statistics offer little comfort given the current form crisis.
The challenge facing O'Neill's team extends beyond simply winning matches; they must rediscover the collective identity and defensive discipline that characterised their earlier domestic form. Without rapid improvement, further embarrassments against top-tier opposition appear inevitable.
