Celtic gave Bayern an almighty scare, the challenge now is VfB Stuttgart

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The Celtic Star

·6 février 2026

Celtic gave Bayern an almighty scare, the challenge now is VfB Stuttgart

For a second consecutive season Celtic’s continued participation in European football will depend on the outcome of a play-off against top quality Bundesliga opposition, this time against VfB Stuttgart…

Celtic v Utrecht, UEFA Europa League, League Stage. Back row (L-R) Sebastian Tounekti, Auston Trusty, Arne Engels, Benjamin Nygren, Liam Scales, Kasper Schmeichel. Front row (L-R) Daizen Maeda, Yang Hyeon-Jun, Callum McGregor, Kieran Tierney, Colby Donovan Photo: Kenny Ramsay. IMAGO / News Licensing

Celtic v VfB Stuttgart: Europa League Play-off Preview

Nicolas Kuhn scores during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Knockout Play-off second leg match between FC Bayern München and Celtic FC at Allianz Arena on February 18, 2025 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)

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In 2025 it was Bayern Munich in the Champions League playoffs under Brendan Rodgers and this time around it’s Martin O’Neill’s turn to lead Celtic in the Europa League playoffs against VfB Stuttgart with the ties being played later this month with the first leg at Celtic Park on Thursday 19 February where Celtic will be looking at establishing a lead to take to Germany. The return leg at Stuttgart’s MHP Arena a week later on 26 February and we predict that Celtic will take a 2-0 lead to protect.

Allianz result proves Celtic can compete on German soil

Last season Celtic lost 2-1 to Bayern Munich at Celtic Park then were leading 1-0 in the Allianz Arena with a seconds of stoppage time remaining before Bayern forced a late equaliser on the night to win the tie 3-2 on aggregate. Going into that second leg in Munich few would have anticipated Celtic dominating Bayern for the entire match only to lose a sickening equaliser in the closing seconds.

Playing in Germany certainly holds no fears for Celtic, and if Martin O’Neill’s side can build a decent platform in the home leg at Celtic Park, even though Stuttgart are favourites, it could provide a real opportunity for the Scottish side. For those following the odds for the tie, the bet365 bonus review and rating is available for new users in the UK.

Nicolas Kuehn of Celtic celebrates scoring his team’s first goal during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Knockout Play-off second leg match between FC Bayern München and Celtic FC at Allianz Arena on February 18, 2025 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images)

Celtic’s confidence grew over the two matches against Bayern Munich

Perhaps Celtic suffered from a lack of belief in that first tie against Bayern Munich but after Daizen Maeda pulled a goal back the German Champions were rocking and lucky to escape Paradise with a lead to defend.

Celtic were the better team in the return leg in Munich and should really have had more than Nicolas Kuhn’s wonderful goal for their dominance. Harry Kane later reviewed the Bayern season and noted that of all the matches that they played Celtic gave them their hardest challenge.

Alphonso Davies of Bayern Munich celebrates scoring his team’s first goal during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Knockout Play-off second leg match between FC Bayern München and Celtic FC at Allianz Arena on February 18, 2025. (Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)

That experience will be invaluable this time around as Celtic take on a Stuttgart side perhaps not near the level of Bayern, although Celtic is perhaps not as strong as last season particularly with the loss of Kuhn to Italian side Como in a £17m summer transfer and injuries to key starters from that Champions League play-off such as Cameron-Carter Vickers, Alistair Johnston and Jota.

So can Celtic win the tie and knock Stuttgart out of the Europa League?

So can Celtic win the tie and knock Stuttgart out of the Europa League? Looking at the German side’s results in the group stages their victories came against two Dutch sides, Feyenoord and Go Ahead Eagles, Israeli no-hopers Maccabi Tel-Aviv and Swiss side Young Boys, with the only away win being against Go Ahead Eagles in Deventer, Eastern Netherlands.

Yang Hyun-Jun of Celtic celebrates scoring his team’s first goal with teammates during the UEFA Europa League 2025/26 League Phase MD5 match between Feyenoord and Celtic FC at De Kuip on November 27, 2025 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. (Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)

Celtic’s away win in Rotterdam against Feyenoord and home victory over Utrecht certainly matches the Stuttgart results against Dutch opposition. Their other two results tell us little although against both Maccabi Tel-Aviv and Young Boys, Stuttgart failed to keep a clean sheet, winning these matches 4-1 and 3-2 respectively.

So goals clearly can be scored against Stuttgart in their MHP Arena, a point Martin O’Neill will be well aware of. How have Celtic’s opponents coped on the road? Well, a 2-0 defeat in Basel, a 1-0 loss in Turkey against Fenebahce and a 2-0 defeat away to Roma suggests that they might be vulnerable at Celtic Park where Celtic, if they can take a decent lead to Germany, could well see out the tie successfully.

Stuttgart’s dangermen that Celtic must watch

Scorers Bilal El Khannouss and Jamie Leweling of Stuttgart celebrate following the Bundesliga match between SV Werder Bremen and VfB Stuttgart at Weserstadion on December 14, 2025 in Bremen, Germany. (Photo by Selim Sudheimer Getty Images)

Key dangers for Celtic will be players like Bilal El Khannouss, Deniz Undav and Jamie Leweling. Stuttgart are going to be a dangerous but not unbeatable opponent for Celtic and Martin O’Neill and Shaun Maloney have been over this course and distanced before two decades ago and led Celtic to a 5-4 aggregate score on the road to the UEFA Cup final in Seville, where they lost 3-2 to Porto in extra time.

FEBRUARY 27: UEFA Pokal 02/03, Stuttgart; VfB Stuttgart – Celtic Glasgow; Enttaeuschte VFB Spieler – Andreas HINKEL, Steffen DANGLMAYR und Timo WENZEL/Stuttgart (Photo by Sandra Behne/Bongarts/Getty Images)

Can history repeat itself and can Celtic take inspiration from running Bayern very close last season in the Allianz to defeat VfB Stuttgart? We’ll find out later this month. With Martin O’Neill in charge anything is possible!