Celtic's Europa League campaign suffered a devastating blow as they lost 4-1 to Stuttgart at Celtic Park in the first leg of their knockout play-off. Bilal El Khannous scored twice, with Jamie Leweling and Tiago Tomas also finding the net for the Bundesliga side, while Benjamin Nygren briefly levelled for the hosts.

Thursday's match exposed deep divisions at the Scottish club, with fans throwing tennis balls onto the pitch in protest against the board before halftime. The supporters then turned on goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, booing him during the second half. Martin O'Neill's side, who hadn't won a European knockout tie since beating Barcelona in 2004, were second best throughout against a Stuttgart team that finished 10 places above them in the league phase.

Schmeichel's poor distribution contributed to Stuttgart's opener, and he failed to keep out Leweling's low drive for the third goal. Despite Celtic's recent stoppage-time heroics in domestic fixtures, Julian Araujo missed a crucial late chance that summed up their night. With this result, Celtic face a monumental task to overturn the deficit in Germany next week, and their European campaign appears all but over.