Celtic left with a mountain to climb as long record comes to juddering halt against classy Bodo/Glimt

Celtic must stage what appears a highly improbable comeback when they head north of the Arctic Circle next week after feeling the heat on home soil against a mightily impressive Bodo/Glimt side.

Amahl Pellegrino scores Bodo/Glimt's second goal in their 3-1 win over Celtic in the Europa Conference League. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

The Norwegian champions took firm control of this Europa Conference League knockout round play-off tie, taking full advantage of a lacklustre display from the Scottish Premiership leaders.

It ended a 17-match unbeaten run in all competitions for Ange Postecoglou’s side, stretching back to November, and they will now need to conjure up one of their best ever away results in Europe to avoid elimination next Thursday.

But on the evidence presented at Celtic Park, Bodo/Glimt are not a team likely to surrender the commanding position they have established.

Runar Espejord opens the scoring for Bodo/Glimt against Celtic. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

From the moment their debutant striker Runas Espejord fired them into a seventh minute lead, they played with an assurance and cohesion which Celtic struggled to cope with and never came close to matching.

After Amahl Pellegrino doubled Bodo/Glimt’s lead 10 minutes into the second half, there was a glimpse of hope for Celtic when Daizen Maeda pulled one back. But that promise of revival was almost immediately snuffed out by Hugo Vetlesen’s deflected third goal for a team who are proving their remarkable emergence, which included a 6-1 thumping of Roma earlier this season, has real substance.

Celtic wouldn’t have been surprised to encounter opponents who were ready and equipped to play them at their own game, Postecoglou having been among those expressing admiration for Bodo/Glimt’s style which very much mirrors his own philosophy.

But given that this was a first competitive outing for the visitors in over two months, the sharpness and effectiveness of their work was perhaps unexpected.

There was certainly no evidence of rustiness as Bodo/Glimt popped the ball around with pace and confidence, equally comfortable doing so as they played out from inside their own penalty area as they were when they made inroads towards Joe Hart’s end of the pitch.

The Celtic defence had no answer to the slick move which produced the early breakthrough goal. It was outstanding one-touch football from Bodo/Glimt, slicing Celtic open as Espejord collected the final pass from Vetlesen and stabbed a low shot beyond Hart.

Celtic struggled to impose themselves on the contest, regardless of how much possession they were able to secure.

Bodo/Glimt goalkeeper Nikita Haikin wasn’t forced into a save of significance until six minutes after the break when he did well to race off his line and block an effort from Maeda.

Just as Celtic seemed to be gathering some attacking momentum for the first time, they were caught cold at the back again. Ola Solbakken jinked beyond Greg Taylor into the box and squared the ball for Espejord to flick it into the path of Pellegrino who took a touch before coolly beating Hart.

Celtic roused the home fans in the 79th minute when Maeda headed home a cross from Josip Juranovic but there was to be no grandstand finish from the hosts. Instead, Bodo/Glimt had the final and probably decisive word when Vetlesen’s shot deflected off Callum McGregor to leave Hart helpless.

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