How did Celtic’s Group A opponents fare at the weekend?

Celtic’s Europa League group stage opponents Ajax, Fenerbahce and Molde were all in action at the weekend as the trio went the weekend unbeaten.

The Hoops will travel to Amsterdam on Thursday night to take on Dutch league leaders Ajax, with Ronny Deila’s men going into the clash deflated after Saturday’s 2-1 defeat against Aberdeen at Pittodrie.

Deila and the players focus will now turn to Amsterdam, and we’ve gathered the performances of all three of Celtic’s rivals over the weekend to see how each one got on.

FC Twente 2-2 Ajax

With four straight wins under the belt, Ajax were in buoyant mood going into the clash with Twente; however their impressive Eredivisie match was halted as they were somewhat fortunate to escape with a point.

Rene Hake’s Twente took a deserved lead when Felipe Gutierrez fired the home side in front before Hakim Ziyech doubled their advantage.

Viktor Fischer then pulled one back for the visitors to send nerves down the home side fans’ spines. The comeback was then complete just 10 minutes from time when striker Yaya Sanogo was fouled in the box, allowing Nemanja Gudelj to slot home and snatch an undeserved point for Frank de Boer’s men.

Sandefjord 2-4 Molde

Norwegian side Molde have been touted as Celtic’s best bet of grabbing vital points in their ‘group of death’.

However, there was no trouble for Darko Milanic’s men this past weekend as they swept aside bottom-of-the-league Sandefjord in the Tippeligaen.

New manager Milanic took charge of his first game, and things started brightly when Ola Kamara opened the scoring midway into the first half. However, the opener was quickly cancelled out just two minutes later by Erik Mjelde.

Kamara restored Molde’s advantage just before the break, and Etzaz Hussain gave the visitors some breathing space when he put his side 3-1 in front with less than 25 minutes remaining.

The points were sealed when Mohamed Elyounoussi lashed home Molde’s fourth, but the home side were to have the final word when Victor Demba Bindia pulled one back at the death.

Kasimpasa 0-1 Fenerbahce

Fenerbahce made it an impressive 10 points from four games after seeing off the challenge of Kasimpasa this past weekend.

The Turkish Premier League side didn’t have it all their own way in the game, but the breakthrough did come just three minutes before the break when Nani whipped in a corner which was subsequently bundled home by defensive midfielder Souza.

Despite some late pressure from the hosts, Vitor Pereira’s men saw the game out and claimed a priceless three points ahead of their first Europa League clash against Molde on Thursday.