NafisaCeltic supporters have already had plenty to digest after the club’s painful Champions League exit, and the disappointment of being dumped out of Europe’s premier competition has barely had time to settle.
The Hoops surrendered a commanding three-goal advantage against LASK, suffering a stunning 5-1 defeat in Austria after Callum McGregor had initially put Martin O’Neill’s side four goals ahead on aggregate.
The collapse has raised serious questions around Celtic’s mentality, squad depth and recruitment, with the club now forced to settle for Europa League football.
But the European disappointment is not the only headache waiting for Celtic.
Attention will soon turn towards one of the biggest fixtures on the Scottish football calendar, with the Hoops facing not one but two Glasgow Derby meetings with Rangers in September.
The first showdown is set to come in the Premier Sports Cup before the two sides meet again in the Scottish Premiership, giving Celtic very little room for error against their fiercest rivals.
Those fixtures were already expected to be demanding, particularly given the uncertainty surrounding O’Neill’s squad after the LASK disaster.
And now Celtic have been handed another blow that could make those two meetings even more difficult.
South Korean FA chiefs have confirmed that Yang Hyun-jun will join up with the country’s Asian Games squad in Japan on September 6, meaning the Celtic winger will miss both clashes with Rangers.
The timing is particularly frustrating for Celtic because Yang will be available to play against St Mirren on September 5 before travelling to Japan the following day.
The South Korean FA confirmed: “The Asian Games football national team led by head coach Lee Min-sung will convene at Cheonan Korea Football Park on September 1.
“For the first call-up, 14 domestic players will gather, and the overseas players – Yang Hyun-jun (Celtic), Bae Jun-ho (Stoke City), Yang Min-hyuk (Westerlo), Lee Young-jun (Grasshopper), and Kim Ji-soo (Brentford) are scheduled to join the team in Japan on September 6.”
Yang has been selected as one of South Korea’s overage players for the tournament, with the competition carrying enormous significance for those involved.
South Korea are attempting to win the Asian Games football tournament for a fourth consecutive time, and victory could earn the players exemption from mandatory military service.
The tournament begins on September 15, with South Korea facing Qatar in Nagoya, while the final is scheduled for October 3 in Toyota if they progress that far.
For Celtic, however, the immediate concern is what Yang’s absence means for the two Rangers fixtures.
The winger has become an important option for O’Neill, and losing him at precisely the point when Celtic face back-to-back meetings with their Old Firm rivals is hardly ideal.
Celtic could technically have attempted to refuse his release because the opening stages of the Asian Games do not fall within a FIFA international window. The club previously took that stance with former striker Oh Hyeon-gyu three years ago, despite a delegation from South Korea travelling to Scotland to make their case.
This time, however, O’Neill appears to have accepted the situation.
The Celtic boss had already acknowledged that Yang could be unavailable for a significant period when discussing the decision to extend his contract.
“We might have to miss him for a number of weeks, but so be it. But we knew that before we extended his contract,” O’Neill said.
That decision now looks particularly costly from a Celtic perspective.
The international break following the second Glasgow Derby will also add to the winger’s absence, with Yang expected to miss four Celtic matches in total, including the rescheduled away fixture against St Johnstone and Celtic’s European opener.
After the manner of the LASK defeat, Celtic supporters will understandably be hoping O’Neill can find solutions quickly.
The Champions League exit has already exposed weaknesses in the squad, and losing an attacking option for the two biggest domestic fixtures of the month only adds another layer to the problem.
The Old Firm games are still some distance away, but Celtic now know they will have to face Rangers without Yang Hyun-jun.
For a side desperate to respond after the humiliation in Austria, that is another piece of bad news they could have done without.
Nafisa
