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Conference League: Aberdeen v Shakhtar commentary BBC Radio Scotland This video can not be played Conference League: Aberdeen v Shakhtar commentary BBC Radio Scotland HT: Celtic 0-1 Braga Kheredine Idessane BBC Scotland at Celtic Park Boos greet the half-time whistle, very unsurprisingly. Celtic have been poor, with the exception of the first 10 minutes or so. Thereafter, Braga sorted themselves out, exploited the vast spaces Celtic were offering them and gratefully accepted Kasper Schmeichel's meek effort to keep out Ricardo Horta's speculative long-range effort. The Scottish champions will need to be much, much better after the break if they're to ignite their Europa League campaign. HT: Celtic 0-1 Braga Celtic 0-1 Braga Steady start in our first helping of half-time booing tonight from the Celtic support. Their team have not been very good. Celtic 0-1 Braga Kheredine Idessane BBC Scotland at Celtic Park Celtic are scrambling to get to half-time just the one goal down. Tells you all you need to know about the first 45. Not good at all from a home point of view. Credit to Braga, they've been good. Celtic 0-1 Braga Ooft, Celtic get away with another one. It's Florian Grillitsch again, he has two close-range goal-bound shots blocked. Celtic 0-1 Braga Braga look for a second as Florian Grillitsch smashes one from the edge of the box, but Kasper Schmeichel tips over and Celtic deal with the corner. Celtic 0-1 Braga Kasper Schmeichel boots a ball from his own box all the way out for a Braga goal kick. Does that count as a shot? Celtic 0-1 Braga Kheredine Idessane BBC Scotland at Celtic Park Braga haven't had a great start to the season in Portugal, lying in 7th place currently. They're enjoying themselves in Glasgow, however, and in the Europa League in general, with their 1-0 defeat of Feyenoord their only victory in their past five matches. They're on course for all three points at the moment. Celtic 0-1 Braga Colby Donovan tries a Ricardo Horta, but he doesn't hit the target. Ambitious from the youngster. Celtic 0-1 Braga Pat Bonner Former Celtic goalkeeper on BBC Sportsound Celtic are almost outnumbered in the middle of the pitch. Celtic 0-1 Braga Celtic are also now on 46% possession. It felt like they must have been on double that before Braga scored. Celtic 0-1 Braga Thirty-nine minutes in and Celtic have one shot on target. Celtic 0-1 Braga Kheredine Idessane BBC Scotland at Celtic Park With 10 minutes to go until half-time, this has been a curiously lacklustre first 45 minutes from Celtic. After a decent enough start, they've completely fallen out of this match and don't look like posing Braga any kind of threat. There's a big team talk coming from Brendan Rodgers, and possibly some personnel changes too. The midfield isn't working and Celtic also look vulnerable down either flank. Celtic 0-1 Braga Tom English BBC Scotland chief sports writer Cameras panned to the director's box at Celtic where there's no sign of Dermot Desmond. Playing in the Dunhill Links in Fife this week, of course. Celtic 0-1 Braga Pat Bonner Former Celtic goalkeeper on BBC Sportsound At this moment in time Braga are dominating the ball and they look like the ones who are going to score the next goal. Celtic 0-1 Braga In the meantime, Paulo Bernardo has taken a wee bang to the head but looks okay to play on. Celtic 0-1 Braga The camera pans to Celtic chief executive Michael Nicholson and chairman Peter Lawwell refreshing their Tik Tok feeds. Okay that might not be entirely true, but they were both on their phones. Celtic 0-1 Braga Kheredine Idessane BBC Scotland at Celtic Park A couple of minutes ago, Kelechi Iheanacho looked across to manager Brendan Rodgers as if to say: 'What's going on? '. Right-back Colby Donovan had just scooped an aimless pass in his direction that he had no chance of getting control of. Celtic, all of a sudden, look a little lost, with Braga completely in control of this match with half an hour played. There's far too much space in the home midfield, with Callum Mc Gregor, Paulo Bernardo and Benjamin Nygren an unconvincing-looking trio thus far. Celtic 0-1 Braga Pat Bonner Former Celtic goalkeeper on BBC Sportsound Celtic just need to get a hold of the ball and get their own passing going. They haven't had a touch of the ball for the past six or seven minutes. Celtic 0-1 Braga The away side have another corner, which is headed away at the near post by Callum Mc Gregor. Graeme Shinnie hopes a big crowd can cheer Aberdeen on to just a second victory of the season Conference League: Aberdeen v Shakhtar Donetsk Venue: Pittodrie Stadium Date: Thursday, 2 October Time: 20: 00 BST Coverage: Listen on BBC Radio Scotland FM & Sounds, live text coverage on the BBC Sport website & app Aberdeen captain Graeme Shinnie says the players have "100 percent" let manager Jimmy Thelin down during a "testing" start to the season. The Dons are bottom of the Premiership with one point from their six outings and have yet to score. Attention now turns to Thursday's Conference League opener at home to Shakhtar Donetsk. "It's us that step out on the pitch, " said Shinnie. "The manager and staff give us all the tools. We have got everything we need and at times it has just been small moments that have turned games around. "It is testing and I think in football you have got to stay in the middle ground, you can't get too high when it is going well and you don't want to get too low when it is going low. "The manager is a prime example of that. He is very good at keeping everyone level headed in the dressing room and his character is key to keep the boys going forward and trying to keep the positivity there. "I try and back that up as well. I have been through a lot of tough moments in my career. You can't do anything about the past, the only thing you can deal with is the here and now so you look to the next game, you look to put in the best performance and try and turn things around. "We are all in it as one, we are all fighting together. " The Ukrainian league leaders are unbeaten over 90 minutes in their 15 matches this season and have a wealth of European experience. "It's a game that we are looking forward to, " added Shinnie. "Not many people will have us favourites, that's fine. I have been used to that throughout my career. "We are at home, we have got the backing of the crowd so we need to use that and try to make Pittodrie a fortress. "There's evidence before of beating big clubs, we beat Eintracht Frankfurt the last time we were in it so we will take confidence from that. "The belief is there inside the dressing room and that is the most important thing and then we also need to feed off the crowd and try and give them something to cheer and be one as a whole and try and do it together. " Aberdeen defender Kristers Tobers is set for an extended spell on the sidelines after suffering a knee injury in Saturday's loss to Motherwell and has been replaced in the Conference League squad with on-loan Tottenham Hotspur centre-half Alfie Dorrington. Shakhtar striker Lassina Traore is sidelined by a hamstring problem, Alisson is out with a broken leg and fellow Brazilian winger Eguinaldo is also missing. Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin: "I always think you should believe in the things you are doing, always stay together. Never give up, never give in, always have this focus that you can improve yourself. "That is the only way for me to work. We always have to take the challenges, some good things, you talk about the pressure, life and football sometimes it is challenging and you have to find the solutions and you have to be strong in this moment and sometimes the togetherness gets even stronger. "I see the players now, they try, every training session, every game. The good thing about the Motherwell game is no player hid, they tried to take responsibility and help each other and they pushed for a win. "We know the end of that game, but the performance was a step in the right direction. Of course, it is a different kind of opponent tomorrow but I also see that our players are growing so hopefully we can keep working and believe in our own performance and fight for a good result. " The Ukrainian side have never previously faced Aberdeen but have experience of playing Celtic, most recently in 2022 when they shared two 1-1 draws with Ange Postecoglou's side in the Champions League. Playing in exile since Russia's first invasion in 2014, they have been domestic title-winners six times in that time. Under new head coach and former Turkey, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid midfielder Arda Turan, they currently sit two points clear of defending champions Dynamo Kyiv. The 2009 Uefa Cup winners have been Champions League regulars in the 21st century. Last season, they finished 27th in the 36-team table, losing five of their eight matches. Defeat on penalties to Panathinaikos meant dropping out of the Europa League this time round, while they required extra-time against Servette in the Conference League play-off. Captain and 79-times capped Ukraine centre-back Mykola Matvienko leads from the back and Artem Bondarenko provides real midfield menace. The club has a long association with Brazil, with Isaque, 18, Luca Meirelles, 18, and Lucas Ferreira, 19, all arriving in the summer for a combined fee of around £28m. Rate players out of 10 for this game. The rater will close 30 minutes after the final whistle. You must be signed in to a BBC account to play. No players have been substituted yet No players have been substituted yet After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users. Last Updated 2nd October 2025 at 20: 50 Please Note: All times UK. Tables are subject to change. The BBC is not responsible for any changes that may be made. Manager: Jimmy Thelin Formation: 3 - 4 - 3 Manager: Arda Turan Formation: 4 - 1 - 4 - 1 Manager: Jimmy Thelin Formation: 3 - 4 - 3 Manager: Arda Turan Formation: 4 - 1 - 4 - 1 To watch and listen, you need to enable Java Script in your browser. Conference League: Aberdeen v Shakhtar commentary. BBC Radio Scotland. 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