The Role of Celtic Park Atmosphere
The atmosphere at Celtic Park could play a significant role in unsettling Stuttgart during the first leg of their Europa League knockout phase play-off tie.
Despite a season marked by fluctuations, Celtic have successfully advanced to this stage of the Europa League. Their upcoming challenge is formidable, facing a Stuttgart team rich in quality and competing for a Champions League spot in the Bundesliga.
Andreas Hinkel, a former Germany international defender who has played for both Celtic and Stuttgart, anticipates "two tight games" in this encounter.
The question remains: what strategy should Celtic employ to secure what would be a remarkable European victory?
'Destroy the Build-Up'
Disrupting Stuttgart's rhythm may be crucial to Celtic's success.
Hinkel, who has also coached at Stuttgart, comments on their style:
"In general Stuttgart, they always want to have control, they want to have the ball, it is always difficult to press them.
"Sebastian Hoeness, the manager, he wants to dominate the game so I think this is a key thing at Celtic Park as well.
"If Celtic can press, if Celtic can destroy the build-up, if they are inside the game, the crowd is there - something can happen at Celtic Park.
"If Stuttgart take control, of course the crowd will be a little bit quieter, it can affect the game so I think it is quite important how it goes on at Celtic Park."
Stuttgart's quality is evident as they finished 11th in the Europa League group stage standings, just one point shy of the top eight teams who advanced directly to the round of 16.
Undav Threat and Collective Strength
While Stuttgart operate as a cohesive unit, Celtic must be vigilant against key individuals within the squad.
Hinkel highlights the threat posed by striker Deniz Undav:
"I don't want to mention just one player but I think [Deniz] Undav, the striker, is in good shape at the moment,"
"But we have some other players like [Jamie] Leweling, [Chris] Fuhrich, there are a few players there with a big target, they want to go to the World Cup and they want to present themselves as good as they can for the German national team."
Strong Start Could Help Celtic Upset the Odds
Hinkel, who won a title and League Cup during his three-year tenure at Celtic, believes Stuttgart may hold a slight advantage over the two legs due to hosting the second match.
However, Celtic might find encouragement in Stuttgart's away record this season in European competition, where they have lost three of four away games, including matches at Basel, Fenerbahce, and Roma.
It is worth noting that Stuttgart also secured an impressive 4-0 victory against Dutch side Go Ahead Eagles on the road.
Hinkel elaborates:
"The first leg at Celtic Park is important because away over the years Stuttgart had some results in the Champions League or the Europa League where they lost quite heavily,"
"For example, in Belgrade they lost 5-1. If you have a game like this at Celtic Park everything can happen if the crowd is there and team gets into the rhythm and they play and attack and something can happen like that.
"Stuttgart is a very good side, they are fighting for the Champions League places in Germany but since Martin O'Neill took over again, Celtic get the results. They get results when it is not that easy - it is always close at the end, maybe in injury time.
"But they get the results and it is a good side and I think the mentality is back so I expect tight games."
