Red Bull Salzburg lost 1-0 away to Wolfsberger AC ahead of their Europa League clash with Celtic on Thursday.
The defeat sees Wolfsberger move into top spot, three clear of Red Bull, after Tajed Trdina’s 26th minute goal.
Salzburg now go into Thursday’s match on the back of three straight defeats with today’s reverse following on from defeats against Malmo (3-0) and Sturm Graz (3-2). Prior to that Salzburg had won their opening six league matches.
Looking forward to the Europa League campaign Celtic boss Ronny Deila said: “Everyone is ready now and it is like a league so there are more chances to do it well. That means you can play your own game more.
“Some people may dismiss this tournament but not me. I think there are good matches and good teams. That’s why we want players to be in their national team as well, to get extra experience and to use that with their club in Europe. The main one is the Champions League and the next is the Europa League. It’s fantastic.
“There are good opponents in the Europa League. You can see that when the Spanish clubs are doing well in both the Europa League and Champions League and winning both, like Atletico and Sevilla.
“We played Atletico Madrid with Stromsgodset in 2011 and they won the Europa League that season and now you see where they are.
“We need to get that experience and play those games and I think the level of the Europa League is very high. The main thing is the experience. We need to use it to be really ready for next year.
“We also have to do everything we can to win the league. That is the biggest thing. It’s what we live for.”
In Thursday’s other tie in Group D Dinamo Zagreb host Astra.