Alan slots home a first-half penalty for Braga

Celtic have a mountain to climb to stay in the Champions League after a toothless display in their opening qualifying tie in Braga.

Osorio Alan tucked away a first half penalty after Ki Sung-Yeung handled.

Uwa Echiejile took advantage of some slack defending to prod in a second goal from a corner on 76 minutes.

And a late curling 30-yard free kick from Nascimento Matheus flew beyond Lukasz Zaluska to complete a miserable night for Neil Lennon's side.

Celtic will have to turn in a vastly improved display in Glasgow next week if they are to have any chance of salvaging the tie.

The Scots did not register a single shot on goal and looked like a team of strangers on their first competitive outing of the season.

Four of Lennon's summer signings were on from the start; Joe Ledley, Charlie Mulgrew, Efrain Juarez and Cha Du-Ri.

MY SPORT: DEBATE Give your reaction to Celtic's performance in Portugal

However, there was no place in the squad for Aiden McGeady, with a back injury blamed for his absence, while Andreas Hinkel was also omitted.

Winger Shaun Maloney was handed his first competitive start since October against opponents who finished runners-up in Portugal last season.

Georgios Samaras was selected as the lone striker and the Greek won an early free-kick that was blazed well over the top by Ki.

In the stifling heat, both sides made a sluggish start but it was something of a surprise to see Mulgrew booked for time-wasting at a throw-in after just four minutes.

There was nothing in the way of goalmouth action until a Maloney cross was acrobatically cleared by Moises.

The first save of the evening followed soon after, with Zaluska awkwardly parrying a Paulo Cesar shot.

The hosts were awarded a penalty when Miguel Garcia's driven cross found the arm of Ki and Brazilian forward Alan coolly fired the spot-kick into top corner of the net.

The goal breathed confidence into the Braga side, with new arrivals Rodrigo Lima and Leandro Salino linking well to cause Celtic problems.

The latter saw a deflected strike from the edge of the penalty area slide wide of the target after a neat passage of play.

Celtic continued to toil after the interval and were lucky to see Moises flash a free header wide from a free kick.

While the visitors were struggling to retain any meaningful possession, Braga did not look like a team capable of hurting them until they were gifted a second goal.

Mulgrew was sleeping as Alan broke away to drill a cross that Zaluska turned round for a corner and Echiejile was quickest to meet a flick on from the resulting delivery, with Glenn Loovens leaden-footed.

With the clock running down, Braga won a free kick and Matheus thundered a shot past a threadbare defensive wall and the ball dipped under the crossbar to leave an embarrassed Zaluska flapping at thin air.

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