Celtic F.C. vs. VfB Stuttgart Europa League preview: Team news and predicted lineups

VfB Stuttgart face Celtic in a two-legged playoff tie after finishing outside the top eight in the league phase. However, Sebastian Hoeneß’s side will have the home advantage for next week’s return leg.

Celtic

After Aberdeen’s unsuccessful effort the previous season, Hearts are trying their best to end the dominance of Celtic and Rangers in the Scottish Premiership. It’ll be the first time either of the two giants will not be crowned champions if the league leaders maintain their form in the playoffs.

Meanwhile, the legendary Martin O'Neill managed to keep Celtic’s European dreams alive with four points in the last two games of the league phase. The 4-2 victory over Utrecht just about confirmed their place in the playoff spot as one of the unseeded teams.

Stuttgart

As for Stuttgart, Chema Andrés’ late goal against Young Boys secured a fifth Europa League win of the season at the end of last month. However, they have missed out on automatic qualification to the Round of 16 by a single point.

Stuttgart also relied on late goals in their rollercoaster 3-1 win over Köln on Sunday. Their focus will now be back on the continental front before the game away at bottom-placed Heidenheim. The Swabians last reached the Round of 16 in the Europa League in the 2012-13 season.

This is incidentally their first campaign back in the Europa League proper since getting knocked out by Lazio back then. Similarly, in their only previous meetup, Stuttgart were eliminated by Celtic in the Round of 16 stage back when the competition was called the UEFA Cup in 2002-03.

Team News

There are no new injuries in Stuttgart’s squad as Nikolas Nartey could even return to the side after missing the last couple of Bundesliga games. January signing Jeremy Arévalo is not named in the Bundesliga side’s revised Europa League teamsheet. Deniz Undav and Ermedin Demirović will be expected to start once again after scoring the goals in the weekend’s win.

Arne Engels, who joined the record champions from Augsburg at the start of last season, is among the list of Celtic players who will miss the game due to an injury. Meanwhile, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will be unavailable since the transfer went through after the deadline date for submitting the Europa League squad.

Predicted Lineups

Celtic: Schmeichel; Araujo, Trusty, Scales, Tierney; Nygren, McGregor ©, Hatate; Yang, Maeda, Tounekti

Stuttgart: Nübel; Vagnoman, Jeltsch, Chabot, Mittelstädt; Karazor ©, Stiller; Leweling, Undav, Führich; Demirovic