Celtic v Young Boys: Fascinating match facts ahead of D-Day at Paradise | OneFootball

Celtic are back in action on Wednesday evening in the UEFA Champions League. The Scottish Champions know that a win will all but ensure their progression into the next round of the competition as they host Young Boys. The Swiss side are bottom of the UCL table and sit 9th in their respective league.

Thanks to One Football, we can share some fascinating facts as the teams get set to battle it out at Celtic Park.

This isn’t the first meeting between the sides, Celtic faced Young Boys in the first round of the 1993-94 UEFA Cup, drawing 0-0 away before winning the second leg 1-0 at Celtic Park thanks to Alain Baumann’s own goal.

In all European competitions, Young Boys are winless in all three away games in Scotland (D1 L2), with this their first visit since a 1-1 draw with Rangers in December 2019 in the UEFA Europa League.

Celtic v BSC Young Boys, 29 September 1993. Celtic won 1-0. UEFA Cup. Photo The Celtic Wiki

Celtic’s only defeat in their last seven UEFA Champions League matches (W3 D3) was their 7-1 loss at Borussia Dortmund in October. Across those seven games, the game at Dortmund represents 64% of the total goals they’ve shipped (7/11).

Young Boys are one of only three teams without a point in this season’s UEFA Champions League, along with RB Leipzig and Slovan Bratislava, losing all six games. It is the first time they’ve lost six games in a single major European campaign.

Callum McGregor celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Scottish Cup Fourth Round match between Celtic and Kilmarnock at Celtic Park on January 18, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Celtic have scored nine goals in three UEFA Champions League matches at Celtic Park this season, last reaching double figures for home goals in a major European campaign in 2003-04 (10), while in the European Cup they last did so in 1970-71 (13).

Young Boys have conceded 22 goals in this season’s UEFA Champions League, the most of any side and the most they’ve ever conceded in a major European season. They have shipped 5+ goals in three games this season, with no side ever doing so in four different major European games in one season before.

Kasper Schmeichel acknowledges the fans following the Scottishl Premiership match between Celtic and Dundee United at Celtic Park on January 08, 2025 . (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Since conceding seven goals and facing 13 shots on target against Borussia Dortmund on MD2, Celtic have only conceded twice and faced 14 shots on target.

According to Opta’s xGoT model, goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel has prevented 1.65 goals across these four games.

This will be Giorgio Contini’s first UEFA Champions League game in charge of Young Boys – four of the previous five managers to take charge of them in the competition lost their first game, with David Wagner the exception in 2021 when he beat Man Utd.

Auston Trusty celebrates at full time during the UEFA Champions League match between Celtic FC and RB Leipzig at Celtic Park on November 05, 2024 (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Among players to attempt 200+ passes in this season’s UEFA Champions League, only Bayern Munich’s Min-Jae Kim (96.7%) has a better pass accuracy than Celtic’s Auston Trusty (96.1%) completing 415/432 passes.

Young Boys goalkeeper David von Ballmoos has conceded 15 goals in four UEFA Champions League games this season – among goalkeepers to play 1,000+ minutes in the competition’s history, only Milan Borjan and Ivan Kelava (both one every 30 minutes) have a worse minutes per goal conceded rate than von Ballmoos (one every 33 mins).