Overview
Stuttgart started the Europa League campaign not very smoothly when they lost two of the first three matches of the group stage, interspersed with a narrow 2-1 victory over Celta Vigo.
However, Sebastian Hoeness's team accelerated strongly in the later stage, winning 4 and losing only one in the last 5 matches of the group stage to rise to 11th place, only one point behind the top 8.
The draw brought them to face Celtic in the play-off round. Before the first leg, Die Roten was in high form with 5 wins in 6 matches in all competitions. The away trip to Celtic Park - which is considered a "hotbed" - witnessed the convincing performance of the Bundesliga representative.
Goals from Tiago Tomas, Jamie Leweling and a double from Bilal El Khannouss helped Stuttgart win heavily 4-1, putting one foot in the next round.
Returning to MHPArena, where they have been unbeaten since the beginning of December 2025, Stuttgart is even more confident. They have won 5 and drawn 2 in their last 7 home matches, an impressive reaction after the 0-5 defeat to Bayern Munich in December.
In the opposite direction, Celtic entered the second leg after two disappointing consecutive defeats. Although the overall campaign was somewhat unstable, the situation was significantly improved when Martin O'Neill returned to lead the team.
After being reappointed in January (replacing Wilfried Nancy), O'Neill helped Celtic win 8 and draw 2 in the first 10 matches, thereby winning a ticket to the Europa League knockout round and rising to the top of the race in the Scottish Premier League.
The 1-4 defeat to Stuttgart was his first defeat in the second leg, although Celtic created xG 2.09 compared to 1.88 of the opponent. Last weekend, they continued to fall 1-2 to Hibernian, conceding a goal in the 87th minute and being 6 points behind Hearts in the standings.
To nurture the hope of reversing the 3-goal gap in Germany, Celtic needs an almost perfect performance. They have a basis to be confident thanks to their 5-game away win streak before, but in fact this season they have only had one away win in European competitions.
With stable form and home advantage, Stuttgart has a great opportunity to close the match in a convincing way.
Personnel situation
Stuttgart is expected to be missing Angelo Stiller, Dan-Axel Zagadou, Lazar Jovanovic and Justin Diehl due to fitness issues, while Julian Chabot is suspended.
In that context, Luca Jaquez is likely to pair center-backs with Finn Jeltsch. In midfield, Atakan Karazor and Chema Andres can take on the role of defensive midfielders.
In attack, the trio Chris Fuhrich, Bilal El Khannouss and Ermedin Demirovic are expected to continue to start, supporting Deniz Undav - who is likely to lead the attack.
On the Celtic side, the absence list is also not short. Alistair Johnston, Arne Engels, Callum Osmand, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Jota are all unable to participate due to injury.
The bright spot in the attack is Benjamin Nygren, who has scored in 3 consecutive matches and is likely to continue to start. He can stand side by side with Daizen Maeda, Sebastian Tounekti and Tomas Cvancara in an effort to find an incredible comeback on German soil.
Expected lineup:
Nubel, Assignon, Jacquez, Jeltsch, Mittelstadt, Karazor, Andres, El Khannouss, Undav, Fuhrich, Demirovic.
Schmeichel, Araujo, Trusty, Scales, Tierney, McGregor, Bernardo, Maeda, Nygren, Tounekti, Cvancara.
The match between Stuttgart and Celtic takes place at 0:45 AM on February 27 (Vietnam time).
