Celtic duo Daniel Majstorovic and Mo Bangura had a miserable time of it in the Europa League as AIK Solna/Stockholm crashed to a 4-0 defeat away to Napoli.
Despite some impressive domestic form the Swedes were given the runaround as Napoli turned on the style to top Group F ahead of Dnipro who won 2-0 at home to PSV Eindhoven.
Eduardo Vargas was the chief tormentor of AIK with the young Chilean striker scoring a hat-trick despite never having started a league match for Napoli.
The home side went into the game unbeaten at the Stadio San Paolo in 14 European outings, and took the lead through Vargas in the sixth-minute. Sent clear by Alessandro Gamberini, the 22-year-old held off the backtracking Nils-Eric Johansson, steadied himself and unerringly beat Ivan Turina for his first goal since joining Napoli in January.
AIK’s task became steeper within seconds of the restart when Vargas ran on to another Gamberini pass and finished with aplomb. He completed his treble midway through the half, rifling substitute Marek HamÅ¡Ãk’s tapered pass across Turina.
In a fortnight’s time AIK face Dnipro at home knowing that a defeat would leave them with a near impossible task in trying to qualify for the knock-out stage of the competition.
Helsingborgs, knocked out of the Champions League by Celtic, lost 1-0 away to Levante and face FC Twente in their next fixture with the Dutch side held to a draw at home by Hanover 96.
Last season’s winners Atletico Madrid made a strong start to their defence of the trophy with a 3-0 win away to Hapoel Tel Aviv.
Not surprized with bombscare Majstorovic ‘defending’
He was brutal when he was at Parkhead.