One of the big talking points to come out of Celtic's defeat to their city rivals in the League Cup on Sunday was Sebastian Tounekti's performance on the left flank.

The Tunisia international was selected to start on the left flank because Hyun-jun Yang is currently away on international duty with South Korea at the Asian Games, leaving him as the only natural left winger.

Unfortunately, Tounekti failed to deliver an impressive performance to help his side in the quarter-final clash and was substituted at half-time by Martin O'Neill.

The former Hammarby star, signed for £5m last summer, will now be in danger of losing his place in the line-up ahead of Thursday night's clash with Ferencvaros.

Why Sebastian Tounekti must be dropped against Ferencvaros

Tounekti should be one of the first players O'Neill considers dropping against the Hungarian side in the Europa League opener, due to his struggles at the top end of the pitch this season.

His blank against Rangers made it seven matches without a goal or an assist for the forward, who has only scored one goal and is yet to provide any assists in all competitions in the 2026/27 campaign.

The 24-year-old attacker was totally ineffective against the Gers at Ibrox, failing to register any shots or key passes, and that is why he was taken off at the break.

Tounekti's dismal statistics in the Scottish Premiership so far this season do not suggest that he is likely to deliver a much-improved display against Ferencvaros later this week.

Therefore, O'Neill should take him out of the team and play Camilo Duran or Haissem Hassan on the left flank, even if it is not their favoured position, to avoid another underwhelming performance by the Tunisian flop.

Celtic star was as bad as Tounekti against Rangers

Tounekti, though, was far from the only player who underperformed on Sunday, and one of his teammates should also be on the chopping block this week.

Celtic captain Callum McGregor lined up alongside Mika Baur in central midfield and looked short of the pace and intensity required to compete against Nicolas Raskin and Dan Neil, who were aided by an inverting James Penrice.

Players cannot maintain the same level forever, and it is no surprise to see McGregor, even if he is still incredibly valuable to the team, lose a yard of pace at the age of 33.

Scott Brown suffered the same fate towards the end of his Parkhead career, as he slowed down on the pitch and eventually left the club to sign for Aberdeen in 2021.

McGregor is not quite at the point where he should be thinking about leaving the Hoops to step down in his career, but he is at the point where O'Neill should consider taking him out of the side.

The captain was just as bad as the ineffectual Tounekti against Rangers as he twice gave Neil far too much space on the edge of the box to score, and was far too slow to get out to close him down.

McGregor was uninfluential in possession, as the Hoops did not create any chances of note, and looked a yard off the pace defensively, particularly for the first and third goals.

The 33-year-old star's struggles in the more intense and physical matches should not come as a surprise after his performances in last season's Europa League, though, as he showed signs of slowing down even then.

McGregor lost the majority of his duels on the deck and in the air, whilst almost being dribbled past once per game on average, and offered little to his team as a creative outlet.

Given his struggles in Europe last season and his disappointing performance out of possession against Rangers on Sunday, Thursday night's clash with Ferencvaros could be the perfect time to see what a Celtic midfield without him might look like.

O'Neill has plenty of options, including Joel van den Berg, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and Oliver Sorensen, to mix things up alongside Baur, and he should drop McGregor for one of them to improve his side's chances of dealing with the physical side of the game.

Whilst it may not be the end of his time at Parkhead just yet, the left-footed star does seem to be walking down the same path that Brown did before his eventual exit from the club.