Hearts head coach Wouter Vrancken and Celtic manager Martin O’Neill have European fixtures this autumn
Celtic will meet Benfica and Marseille in the Europa League while Hearts will take on Mo Salah’s Trabzonspor and Monaco in the Conference League.
Scottish Premiership champions Celtic, who fell into the Europa League after surrendering a four-goal lead against LASK in the Champions League play-off tie earlier this week, will also play Celta Vigo, Besiktas, Omonia, Union SG and Torreense.
Hearts, who lost in Champions and Europa League qualifying but defeated Rapid Vienna on penalties in the Conference League play-off, have fixtures with Borac, Nordsjaelland, Pafos and Thun.
Celtic play their first Europa League fixture next month, with Hearts starting their league phase campaign in October.
Celtic’s Europa League fixtures
Marseille (home), Benfica (away), Ferencvaros (home), Union SG (away), Celta Vigo (home), Omonia (away), Bestikas (home), Torreense (away)
Matchdays: 16/17 September, 15 & 22 October, 5 & 26 November, 10 December 2026, 21 & 28 January 2027
Hearts’ Conference League fixtures
Monaco (home), Pafos (away), Borac (home), Trabzonspor (away), Nordsjaelland (home), Thun (away)
Matchdays: 15 & 22 October, 5 & 26 November, 10 & 17 December
How does the league phase work?
In the Europa League, each of the 36 teams will play eight different teams, four at home and four away, in the league phase.
The teams who finish in the top eight will automatically qualify for the round of 16, while those who finish between ninth and 24th will face off in a two-legged knockout tie in the play-off round.
Teams who finish 25th and below will be eliminated from the competition and will not be able to drop into any other European competitions.
In the Conference League, the format is slightly different, as all 36 teams play only six games, three at home and three away, in the league phase.
In terms of qualifying for the next round, however, it is the same format as the Europa League, with the top eight progressing to the last 16, while teams who finish between ninth and 24th enter the play-offs.
The knockout rounds for both competitions take place from February, with the Europa League final on 26 May and the Conference League final on 2 June.
Rekindled rivalries and new opponents for Celtic
Celtic last played Portuguese side Benfica, who beat Hearts twice earlier this season, in two 2012 Champions League group stage matches, drawing at home and losing away, and defeated Ferencvaros home away in 2021 Europa League games.
During manager Martin O’Neill’s first spell as boss, Celtic beat Celta Vigo on away goals en route to the 2003 Uefa Cup final
Celtic have never previously played Turkey’s Besiktas, French side Marseille, Cypriots Omonia, Taça de Portugal winners Torreense or Belgium’s Union SG, who are part-owned by Brighton chairman and Hearts investor Tony Bloom.
Salah meeting headlines Hearts’ fixtures
Liverpool great Salah joined Turkey’s Trabzonspor this summer after 257 goals in 442 appearances. Now, 34, the Egypt international has two goals in three games for Trabzonspor, who will host Hearts.
Vrancken’s side also face trips to Cyprus for Pafos and Switzerland for Thun.
Bosnian champions Borac will visit Edinburgh, along with Danes Nordsjaelland and Ligue 1 Monaco.
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