The atmosphere at Celtic Park had already turned tense long before the final whistle.
Celtic had entered the night knowing they needed a strong performance, but what followed was another painful evening for the supporters. The intensity of the match was obvious from the opening exchanges, with Celtic trying to impose themselves while Ferencváros refused to sit back and simply defend.
Every Celtic attack carried pressure. Every missed opportunity brought louder frustration from the stands. And when the visitors eventually took control of the game, the mood inside Celtic Park changed dramatically.
The biggest moment of the night, however, came when former Celtic player Daniel Arzani found the back of the net.
Arzani’s goal made the situation even more painful for the home supporters. It was not simply another goal against Celtic. It was a former player returning to Celtic Park and scoring against the club where he had once hoped to make his mark.
When the final whistle eventually confirmed Celtic’s defeat, Arzani was immediately surrounded by journalists.
One reporter asked him the obvious question: How did it feel to score against his former club?
For a moment, Arzani appeared to struggle for words.
He admitted that celebrating against Celtic was one of the strangest feelings he had experienced in football. He said there was still a deep emotional connection to the club and that scoring against them was never something he had imagined would feel so complicated.
Then came the part that caught everyone’s attention.
Arzani explained that football sometimes forces players to put emotions aside.
He respected Celtic, respected the supporters and remembered his time at the club, but once the match started, there was only one objective winning.
And Ferencváros had arrived believing they could do exactly that.
Another journalist then turned the conversation toward Celtic’s performance.
Did Arzani genuinely believe Celtic were expecting to lose the game?
His response was even more revealing.
He explained that nobody walks onto a football pitch expecting to lose simply because they are facing a club with Celtic’s history and reputation. But, according to Arzani, Ferencváros came into the match believing they could win.
That belief, he suggested, was the difference.
Then he delivered the statement that immediately became the biggest talking point of the interview.
“Honestly, Celtic have lost their spark as a team.”
Arzani argued that Celtic no longer looked like the aggressive side many people had become accustomed to seeing.
He remembered the Celtic of last season a team that played with intensity, attacked opponents relentlessly and made even difficult matches feel uncomfortable for the opposition.
This time, however, he felt something was missing.
The hunger.
The aggression.
The confidence.
The belief.
According to the interview, Arzani said Celtic still possessed quality, but quality alone could not guarantee results. A team needed to show its personality when the pressure became intense, and he felt Celtic had failed to do that on the night.
His comments inevitably brought another painful result into the conversation: Celtic’s recent 3–0 defeat to Rangers.
For Celtic supporters, suffering a heavy Old Firm defeat without scoring was already difficult enough. Following that with another disappointing European performance only intensified the frustration.
Arzani suggested that the contrast was impossible to ignore.
The Celtic everyone remembered did not simply accept difficult moments. They fought through them.
And that is why his final message was so uncomfortable.
He insisted that the manager now had serious work to do.
Not because Celtic suddenly lacked talent, but because something had changed in the team’s identity.
“The manager has to work harder,” was the essence of his message.
For Celtic fans, those words may hurt more than the defeat itself.
Because Arzani was not speaking as an outsider who had never experienced Celtic Park.
He was a former Celtic player who had just returned to the stadium, scored against his old club and walked away with the victory.
And his verdict was brutally simple: Celtic still have the players but somewhere along the way, they may have lost their spark.
