Martin O’Neill has named his Celtic side for what is almost certainly going to be the end of the road or Celtic in European football for another season…
A 4-1 first leg deficit is unlikely to be overturned in the Neckarstadion this evening in the 5.45pm kick-off Europ League play-off second leg. Celtic will be looking to restore some pride and to chase down a first ever victory on German soil in a competitive match for the club. That would certainly give the squad a massive boost for the domestic challenges ahead starting on Sunday lunchtime at Ibrox.
🏆 𝗨𝗘𝗙𝗔 𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗮 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗴𝘂𝗲
🆚 VfB Stuttgart v Celtic
🏟️ MHP Arena, Stuttgart#UEL | #CelticFC pic.twitter.com/BM7mXEwreo— SNS Group (@snsgroup) February 26, 2026
Here are tonight’s team line-ups…
VfB Stuttgart (4-2-3-1): Nübel – Vagnoman, Jeltsch, Jaquez, Mittelstädt – Karazor, Andrés – Tomás, Bouanani, Leweling – Undav.
Celtic (4-3-3): Sinisalo – Donovan, Trusty, Murray, Saracchi – McCowan, McGregor, Hatate – Hyun-Jun, Adamu, Maeda.
Viljami Sinisalo starts in goals and the back four for Celtic this evening consists of Colby Donovan, Dane Murray, Austin Trusty and Marcelo Saracchi. In the midfield Celtic’s captain Callum McGregor is joined by Luke McCowan and Reo Hatate while the front three are Yang, Junior Adamu and Daizen Maeda.
On the bench for Celtic this evening are Schmeichel, Scales, Nygren, Cvancara, Tounekti, Bernardo, Forrest, McArdle, Iheanacho, Hatton, Ralston and Tierney. That’s at least seven starters there for Ibrox.
Here’s Martin O’Neill’s pre-match thoughts…
🎥 @CelticTV spoke with the manager ahead of #VfBStuttgartCeltic
#UEL | #CelticFC🍀 pic.twitter.com/sZ5lnN4u9w— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) February 26, 2026
📋 The Celtic side for tonight#VfBStuttgartCeltic | #UEL | #CelticFC🍀 pic.twitter.com/sN2LXz4vZz
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) February 26, 2026
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They MUST find a way of keeping Scales out of the team…….
HH