Celtic's upcoming Europa League opponents sack manager

Celtic's upcoming Europa League opponents Torreense have decided to sack head coach Luis Tralhao.

Torreense is not a name you will have come across very often, with the Portuguese side having never played at this level of Europe. They made it to the Europa League league phase due to winning the Portuguese Cup last season, stunning Benfica in the final.

Tralhao pulled off that feat, and he has Torreense within goal difference of the progression spots in the Europa League at this stage, three more points than Celtic.

But that has not been enough to save him from the sack due to Torreense dropping into the bottom half of the Portuguese second tier due to a disappointing start in the league.

Celtic face the Portuguese side away from home in their next Europa League game after Thursday night's Besiktas clash, and it will almost certainly be a must-win game for the Bhoys.

Torreense may not have a full-time replacement in charge for that game, but whatever the case, the sacking of Tralhao could go either way in terms of how the Torreense players respond.

Celtic won't actually get to see Torreense's home ground during the November 26 clash, and that's because the Portuguese side have to play at an alternative location around 50 kilometres away due to their ground not meeting UEFA's standards.

Naturally, the second-tier club were not expecting to be competing in Europe, so they were not too concerned about their stadium meeting UEFA conditions, with the capacity only around 2,000.

Still, they have done okay in Europe, and better than Celtic so far, keeping themselves in the mix. They likely only need a couple of wins to secure passage through to the next round, and they will be looking at winless Celtic as a potential route to three of the required points.

In the meantime, they will have to turn their attention to finding a new boss.