It's a must-win game for Martin O'Neill's men as they go up against a Vincenzo Italiano side looking good for qualification already

If Martin O'Neill's claims that Celtic can still qualify for the Europa League knockout phase is to be taken seriously, then nothing less than a win this week will suffice.

The Premiership champions are 0-3 so far having faced Ferencvaros, Benfica and Celta Vigo in the competition. Two of those being home defeats does not bode well.

Besiktas are the visitors to Parkhead on Thursday and arrive with a relatively healthy Europa League record thus far. A thumping win over Marseille, who Celtic are yet to face, away at Hoffenheim and a 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace with ten men has given them their seven points so far.

They sit eighth in the table and will be looking to bypass the playoff round altogether and progress straight to the round of 16. But domestically, it's not so rosy as they sit six points behind Istanbul rivals Galatasaray in the Super Lig, having surrendered a two-goal lead at the weekend.

Record Sport takes a closer look at exactly who the Hoops are going up against.

Who are Besiktas?

Besiktas, or to give them their official title, Besiktas Jimnastik Kulubu, are one of the three Istanbul behemoths and were formed on March 3, 1903. Along with rivals Galatasaray and Fenerbahce., they are one of Turkey's most successful clubs with 16 Super Lig titles and have never been relegated from the top flight. The 42,684 capacity Besiktas Stadium is located in central Istanbul (in the besiktas district, funnily enough).

How did they reach this stage?

Besiktas finished fourth on 60 points behind champions Galatasaray, Fenerbahce and Tabzonspor, earning them entry to the Europa League qualifying rounds. Midtjylland were dispatched 3-0 on aggregate in the second qualifying round, before two 1-0 goal victories in each leg against Czechs Hradec Kralove. A 3-0 first leg win over Lithuania's Kauno-Zalgiris meant the 1-0 second leg reverse meant little.

Manager - Vincenzo Italiano

The Italian boss with the most Italian name (who was actually born in Karlsruhe, West Germany) took over at Besiktas last June after leaving Bologna the previous month. Has recent European pedigree after guiding Fiorentina to back-to-back Conference League Finals, losing both to West Ham and Olympiacos respectively.

Italiano's playing career saw the midfielder turn out for Trapani, Hellas Verona (twice), Genoa, Chievo, Padova and Perugia over 20 years. He began his coaching journey in the amateur leagues before steooing into Serie C with former club Trapani. After winning promotion to Serie B, Spezia hired him to do the same again, except this time guide them into Serie A. And he did it before achieving safety in his first ever top flight campaign, which persuaded Fiorentina to hire him.

After two-years in Florence, he moved on to Bologna and created history there too. Italiano clinched the Coppa Italia at the end of his first season, beating Milan in the final and delivering a first cup win to the club for 51 years. He left at the end of last seaosn by mutual consent.

Star man - Dusan Vlahovic

The big Serb tops the club's scoring charts with seven goals in eight games after joining on a free from Juventus in the summer, reportedly on big money. He made club history when he bcame the first player since the 2000-2001 season to score in each of his first four matches in the starting lineup for the Istanbul club. Powerful and with a real pedigree, he just missed out on playing under Italiano at Fiorentina in 2022. Fifty goals in 123 games for Juve is not to be sniffed at either and will likely be the biggest threat to Celtic's chances. Former Arsenal star Leandro Trossard is the man expected to provide for Vlahovic.

Familiar faces

Competing with Vlahovic for a striking spot is Hyeon-gyu Oh. The Korean was an Ange Postecoglou signing at Celtic but never really got an extended run in the team to really show what he could do. A switch to Genk proved to be the making of the 25-year-old and he was on the verge of a £30million switch to Stuttgart before a knee issue cropped up in the medical. Genk refused to convert the switch from a permanent deal to a loan and Celtic missed out on a substantial cut of the fee. He joined Besiktas last winter for €14million.

There are a couple of old foes in the Black Eagles squad as well. Former Rangers left back Ridvan Yilamz is back with his boyhood team. Rangers paid £5million for him in 2022, but the defender returned in 2025 for an undisclosed fee. Is likely to start on his return to Glasgow.

Vaclav Cerny is unlikely to be involved however, so there will be no return to the scene of the crime. The Czech winger's last appearance at Celtic Park saw him promoted to public enemy no 1 after squirting the home fans with a water bottle following Hamza Igamane's late derby winner.

The Turks will of course recongise Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who spent two years with them before being frozen out by Giovanni van Bronckhorst.

European record

Besiktas' best ever European campaign came in 1986/87 when they reached the quarter-finals of the European Cup, when they were brutally eliminated 7-0 on aggregate by Valeriy Lobanovksy's legendary Dynamo Kyiv side. Since then, their best showing was reaching the last 16 in 2017/18, but again were on the end of a heavy aggregate defeat, this time going down 8-1 to Bayern Munich.

They have twice reached the last eight of the UEFA Cup/Europa League; in 2002/03 when they were beaten 3-1 on aggregate by Lazio (who lost the semi to Celtic's eventual conquerors, Porto), and in 2016/17, agonisingly losing out 7-6 on penalties to Lyon.

Previous meetings

This will be the first ever meeting of the two clubs.