Oh Says He Could Cry If He Scores Against Celtic — Which Probably Means He’s Destined to Score!

There is something painfully predictable about football sometimes.

Celtic are heading into Thursday night’s Europa League clash with Beşiktaş desperately needing a result, and former striker Hyeon-gyu Oh has provided another storyline that could make the evening even more uncomfortable.

The South Korean international has admitted that he could become emotional if he scores against his former club.

Speaking ahead of his return to Celtic Park, Oh described Celtic as his “second home” and thanked the supporters for welcoming him when he first arrived in Glasgow.

He also made it clear that, despite his affection for the club, he is now a Beşiktaş player and will give everything for his current team.

But his comments about potentially crying if he finds the net have already given Celtic supporters another reason to worry.

You just know how this one goes.

A former Celtic striker returns to Glasgow, tells everyone how much he loves the club, talks about the special memories he has of playing at Celtic Park and then inevitably finds the back of the net.

We have seen enough football to know how these stories can end.

Oh scored 12 goals in 47 appearances during his time at Celtic, but his career has developed considerably since leaving in 2024. After finding his scoring touch at Genk, he earned a move to Beşiktaş and now has the opportunity to show Celtic exactly what they have been missing.

And he will be coming up against a defence that has given supporters very little confidence recently.

But the bigger story is the situation Celtic find themselves in.

Three defeats from our opening three Europa League matches have left us sitting on zero points, with Beşiktaş arriving in Glasgow having collected seven.

Martin O’Neill has openly acknowledged the scale of the challenge. He revealed that he had been told no team that had lost its opening three league-phase matches had ever qualified for the next stage.

That statistic does not make particularly comfortable reading.

O’Neill has insisted that Celtic are still capable of qualifying, but we are now approaching the stage where every result matters. The top 24 progress from the league phase, with the top eight qualifying automatically for the last 16.

We have eight matches in total, and already a huge amount of ground to make up.

Thursday’s fixture is therefore about much more than simply getting our first European points on the board. It is about keeping our qualification hopes alive and giving supporters something to believe in again.

Beşiktaş are a dangerous opponent, and Oh will be desperate to make an impression on his return.

Celtic need to make sure he does not get the opportunity to enjoy a fairytale evening at our expense.

Although, knowing our luck, he will probably score, celebrate apologetically, shed a tear and leave us wondering why we ever let him go.

Let’s hope the only tears at Celtic Park on Thursday night are tears of relief after three desperately needed points.