For the sixth time in the last nine seasons, it will be UEFA Europa League football heading to Celtic Park. Martin O'Neill's team should have been focussed on Thursday's Champions League draw, but the less said about what occurred in Linz on Tuesday night, the better.
So now, the Scottish champions once again find themselves in Europe's second-tier competition. The league phase draw took place at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on Friday afternoon, so find out who the Hoops will be up against.
Celtic's 8 UEFA Europa League opponents
Home
- Pot 1: Olympique de Marseille
- Pot 2: Ferencváros
- Pot 3: Celta Vigo
- Pot 4: Beşiktaş
Away
- Pot 1: Benfica
- Pot 2: Royale Union Saint-Gilloise
- Pot 3: Omonia
- Pot 4: Torreense
Of course, this is not the competition Celtic wanted to be in, but there are still some interesting and difficult ties. The Celts have never faced Marseille before, so that will be a first, while Benfica are far more familiar opponents, the pair clashing eight times, most-recently in 2012.
As well as visiting Lisbon, the Hoops will travel to Brussels, Nicosia and Estádio Algarve in Southern Portugal. Torreense are certainly the team worth highlighting, considering they compete in Liga Portugal 2. Last year, Luís Tralhão's side enormously upset the odds by beating beating Sporting CP 2-1 after extra time in the Taça de Portugal Final.
A few days later, Torreense were beaten in the promotion play-offs by Casa Pia, so will now compete in the Europa League alongside Portugal's second-tier simultaneously.
On top of Marseille, the sides visiting Glasgow's East End will be Ferencváros, Celta de Vigo and Beşiktaş. The Turkish outfit are certainly among the toughest of the pot 4 teams they could have landed. Celts will be hoping to repeat the results when they last faced Ferencváros, beating the Hungarian champions 2-0 at home and 3-2 in Budapest under Ange Postecoglou five years ago.
Overall, a good mix of matches, albeit it will take a lot for supporters to be enthusaed by the Europa League.
When will Celtic's UEFA Europa League fixture list be released?
According to UEFA, the fixture lists, featuring dates, venues and kick off times, for all three competitions will be released on Sunday.
How does the Europa League league phase work?
All 36 clubs will play eight matches against eight different opponents, four at home and four away. Celtic will take on two teams from each of the four pots, one at Parkhead and one on the road. The top eight teams go through to the last 16, teams ranked ninth to 24th enter the play-off round, while teams finishing 25th or lower are eliminated.
How many points do Celtic need to qualify?
Based on the previous two seasons of the Europa League in this format, to guaranteed finishing in the top 24, Celtic will need to accumulate ten points. Last season's haul of 11 points saw them end up 21st.
If the Hoops have aspirations of a top eight finish, thereby going straight through to the round of 16, 14 points was the threshold in 2024/25, while 16 points were required last time round.
How can I watch Celtic in the Europa Leeague?
In the UK & Ireland, TNT Sports and HBO Max have exclusive rights to the UEFA Europa League. In the United States, matches will be available to watch on CBS Sports Golazo and Paramount+.
Europa League 2026/27 league phase dates
- Matchday 1: Wednesday 16 & Thursday 17 September.
- Matchday 2: Thursday 15 October.
- Matchday 3: Thursday 22 October.
- Matchday 4: Thursday 5 November.
- Matchday 5: Thursday 26 November.
- Matchday 6: Thursday 10 December.
- Matchday 7: Thursday 21 January.
- Matchday 8: Thursday 28 January.
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