Celtic finished 21st in the league phase and will host Stuttgart in the first leg on February 19
Nottingham Forest, who ended the league phase 13th, welcome Fenerbahce first
Other ties include Lille vs Crvena zvezda, Genk vs Dinamo Zagreb, Bologna vs Brann, Panathinaikos vs Viktoria Plzen
UEFA Europa League Draw: Celtic Paired With Stuttgart In Playoffs; Nottingham Forest Face Fenerbahce
UEFA Europa League 2025-26 Draw: Celtic have been handed a demanding knockout-round playoff against Stuttgart, while Nottingham Forest must overcome Fenerbahce to keep their hopes of reaching the last 16 alive
Summary
Celtic will face Stuttgart in the Europa League knockout-round play-offs, while Nottingham Forest must get past Fenerbahce if they are to reach the last 16.
Martin O'Neill's Bhoys secured progression from the league phase on matchday eight, with a 4-2 win over Eredivisie side Utrecht seeing them finish 21st in the standings.
But they will face a tough test against Stuttgart, who finished as Bundesliga runners-up in 2023-24 then won the DFB-Pokal last season. They currently sit fifth in the German top flight and finished 11th of 36 teams in the league phase.
Celtic will be at home in the first leg of the tie on February 19, before travelling to Germany a week later. The victors of the tie will face Portuguese opposition in the round of 16, in the form of Braga or Porto – who beat O'Neill's Celtic in the 2003 UEFA Cup final.
Forest, meanwhile, will host the first leg of their tie against Fenerbahce, after routing Ferencvaros on matchday eight to finish 13th.
Forest would then face either Midtjylland or Real Betis if they progress, having already failed to beat both of those teams in the league phase (2-2 versus Betis, 2-3 versus Midtjylland, both under Sean Dyche's predecessor Ange Postecoglou).
Elsewhere, Lille will take on Crvena zvezda, Bologna will face Brann, Celta Vigo must get past PAOK, and Panathinaikos drew Viktoria Plzen.
Genk, who dropped out of the top eight due to Roma's dramatic draw with Panathinaikos, will face Dinamo Zagreb, while Ludogorets' reward for scraping a play-off place is a clash with Ferencvaros.
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