Celtic v Utrecht live: Hosts secure Europa League play-off place after crucial win

Rangers' first-half collapse saw them conclude their dismal Europa League campaign with a 3-1 defeat by Porto in the Estadio do Dragao.

Gers attacker Djeidi Gassama headed the visitors in front after just six minutes but they soon fell apart with some calamitous defending and goals from teenager Rodrigo Mora, Francisco Moura and an Emmanuel Fernandez own goal before the break left Danny Rohl's side reeling, with the Portuguese side comfortably fending off an improved Govan side after the break.

Rangers were already out of the competition before kick-off but it was a first defeat in nine games for the Ibrox side, who at times in the first half reverted back to early-season form.

Nottingham Forest will play Panathinaikos or Fenerbahce in the Europa League play-off round after ending their league phase with a 4-0 win over Robbie Keane’s Ferencvaros.

Igor Jesus’ brace after Bence Otvos’ early own goal and James McAtee’s late penalty made it an easy evening for Forest at the City Ground.

Defeat at Braga last week ensured Sean Dyche’s side had next to no chance of securing automatic qualification to the knockout round, but victory here ensured they get home advantage in the second leg of next month’s play-off tie.

Nineteen-year-old substitute Jamaldeen Jimoh-Aloba scored a late winner as Aston Villa came from two goals down to beat RB Salzburg 3-2 and finish in the Europa League top two amid further injury problems for boss Unai Emery.

Villa, already assured of a place in the last 16, picked up their seventh win from eight games in the group phase the hard way and the success was marred by the loss of Ollie Watkins to a first-half injury to add to a growing list of fitness concerns.

Salzburg had no other option but to go in search of the three points and got their reward for a fantastic first-half display when Karim Konate took advantage of Tyrone Mings’ error.

Here are some key dates Martin O’Neill and co. will be looking at:

Play-off first legs will be played on 19 February and second legs are slated to take place on 26 February.

Round of 16

First leg: 11/12 March

Second leg: 18/19 March

Quarter-finals

First leg: 8/9 April

Second leg: 15/16 April

Semi-finals

First leg: 29/30 April

Second leg: 6/7 May

Final

19/20 May - Besiktas Park, Istanbul

Celtic manager Martin O’Neill said that the club are “making progress” as they look to add some January signings after securing a place in the Europa League play-offs.

The Scottish champions eventually eased past Utrecht with a 4-2 win at Celtic Park on Thursday evening to finish 21st in the league phase table, and they will face one of German side Stuttgart or Hungarian club Ferencvaros in February’s play-off tie, with the draw coming on Friday.

The clubs are paired together in relation to their league phase positions, forming four seeded pairs: positions 9 and 10, 11 and 12, 13 and 14, and 15 and 16. There will be four unseeded pairs: positions 17 and 18, 19 and 20, 21 and 22, and 23 and 24).

Clubs in each seeded pair will draw a tie against an unseeded pair: clubs 9 or 10 against clubs 23 or 24, clubs 11 or 12 against clubs 21 or 22, clubs 13 or 14 against clubs 19 or 20, and clubs 15 or 16 against clubs 17 or 18.

Teams from the same national association, or teams that have already met in the league phase, can all play against each other in the knockout phase play-offs.

There are 16 teams in the Europa League knockout phase play-off draw, including two-thirds of the remaining British contingent.

With the number representing their finish in the league phase, the following teams are seeded:

9. Genk (Belgium)

10. Bologna (Italy)

11. Stuttgart (Germany)

12. Ferencvaros (Hungary)

13. Nottingham Forest (England)

14. Viktoria Plzen (Czech Republic)

15. Red Star Belgrade (Serbia)

16. Celta Vigo (Spain)

The remaining teams are unseeded:

17. PAOK (Greece)

18. Lille (France)

19. Fenerbahce (Turkey)

20. Panathinaikos (Greece)

21. Celtic (Scotland)

22. Ludogorets Razgrad (Bulgaria)

23. Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)

24. Brann (Norway)

The draw for the first knockout round in the 2025/26 Europa League is set to be made after a frantic league phase finale sealed the fates of British sides.

Nottingham Forest find themselves in the pot with a 4-0 victory over Robbie Keane’s Ferencvaros not enough to force themselves into the top eight, while Aston Villa bypass the play-offs after finishing second in the table.

Sean Dyche’s side will, however, be joined by Celtic after Martin O’Neill’s side avoided elimination on the last matchday, staving off a comeback from Utrecht to beat to Dutch side 4-2 at Parkhead.

The likes of Lille, Bologna and Fenerbahce are also among the top-24 contingent required to go through the play-offs to keep their Europa League ambitions alive.

Here’s everything you need to know.

Celtic set up a Europa League play-off clash with either Ferencvaros or Stuttgart after beating Dutch side FC Utrecht 4-2 in their final group stage match at Celtic Park.

An early strike from Benjamin Nygren, an own goal from Nick Viergever and an Arne Engels penalty looked to have Celtic coasting, only for Utrecht to narrow the deficit thanks to efforts from Dani de Wit and Adrian Blake.

A fourth goal, though, from Auston Trusty secured Celtic’s safe passage through to Friday’s draw, where they will be paired with either Ferencvaros of Hungary or German side Stuttgart in a two-legged tie to be played on February 19 and 26.

“We’re making progress, we think we can move it along now, so I’m very hopeful we can get some recruits in.

“That i don’t know, like anything else you’re trying to look for a bit of quality to supplement the squad and improve it. It’s not been easy.

“Ive had transfer windows in the past where I’ve been twiddling my fingers, so we’re trying to do some work and we think we can do it.

“You keep questioning me, I can never guarantee anything, but we’re very hopeful,” he adds as he finishes.