Celtic to play Stuttgart in Europa League play-offs

Celtic will play Stuttgart and Nottingham Forest will face Fenerbahce in two-legged play-offs to reach the last 16 of the Europa League.

Martin O’Neill’s side could also have been drawn against Hungarian club Ferencvaros, managed by Robbie Keane, but will instead face the Bundesliga club.

The first leg will be at Celtic Park and the winners of the tie will play either Porto – who defeated O’Neill’s side in the 2003 Uefa Cup final – or another Portuguese side Braga in the last 16.

Forest, whose alternative tie was against Greek side Panathinaikos, will play Midtjylland or Real Betis if they progress past the Turkish club.

The play-off games will take place on 19 and 26 February.

Celtic booked their spot in the play-offs with a 4-2 win against Utrecht which secured 21st place in the league phase table.

Forest won 4-0 against Ferencvaros in their final league game to finish 13th and earn a home tie in the second leg of the play-off.

The top eight teams from the league phase – Lyon, Aston Villa, Midtjylland, Real Betis, Porto, Braga, Freiburg and Roma – have all qualified for the last 16.

Ludogorets v Ferencvaros

Panathinaikos v Viktoria Plzen

GNK Dinamo v Genk

PAOK v Celta

Celtic v Stuttgart

Fenerbahce v Nottingham Forest

SK Brann v Bologna

Lille v Red Star Belgrade