Super Eagles Forward Kelechi Iheanacho was introduced in the 78th minute, but it was not enough to save Celtic F.C. from crashing out of the UEFA Europa League despite a 1-0 victory away to VfB Stuttgart on the night.
The Scottish champions exited the competition 4-2 on aggregate after the damage had been done in the first leg in Glasgow, where Stuttgart secured a commanding three-goal advantage.
Celtic made a dream start in Germany, stunning the hosts inside 30 seconds. Junior Adamu’s clever pass found Luke McCowan, who calmly swept the ball into the bottom corner to hand the visitors an early lead.
Backed by their comfortable aggregate cushion, Stuttgart responded with sustained pressure. Badredine Bouanani forced a save from Viljami Sinisalo with a long-range effort before miscuing another chance at the back post. Tiago Tomás also saw a goal-bound attempt blocked as the German side pushed for an equaliser.
The hosts continued to threaten after the break, with Chris Führich and Bouanani both going close, while Sinisalo was called into action several times to preserve Celtic’s slender lead. Deniz Undav thought he had levelled matters in the 75th minute, but his strike was ruled out by VAR for offside in the build-up.
Iheanacho was introduced shortly after as Celtic searched for more goals to overturn the aggregate deficit, but Stuttgart managed the closing stages effectively. Despite securing a historic first away win in Germany at the 17th attempt, Celtic’s European campaign came to an end, while Stuttgart progressed to the last 16 draw.
