Celta Vigo vs PAOK FC Preview: A Golden Opportunity for Los Celestes to Advance to the Round of 16

Celta Vigo is on the verge of making history by advancing to the round of 16 of the 2025/2026 Europa League when they host PAOK FC in the second leg of the knockout play-off round. With a 2-1 victory in the first leg in Greece, Claudio Giraldez’s team only needs a draw to secure their ticket in front of their own supporters.

The performance of Los Celestes is on a sharp rise. After silencing PAOK at Toumba Stadium, Iago Aspas and his teammates continued their positive trend by defeating Mallorca 2-0 in La Liga. The captain, Iago Aspas, is the most watched figure after being involved in the last four goals for Celta (3 goals, 1 assist).

On the other hand, PAOK comes to Spain with a heavy burden. The team coached by Razvan Lucescu has not won in the last three matches in all competitions. The problems are getting more complicated for the Greek representative because of the injury storm that hit key players such as Taison, Despodov, and main goalkeeper Jiri Pavlenka, plus the absence of attacking midfielder Andrija Zivkovic due to a card accumulation.

Celta Vigo (3-4-3): Ivan Radu; Joseph Aidoo, Marcos Alonso, Carl Starfelt; Oscar Mingueza, Ilaix Moriba, Fran Beltran, Hugo Alvarez; Iago Aspas, Borja Iglesias, Williot Swedberg.

PAOK FC (4-2-3-1): Kotarski; Jonjoe Kenny, Dejan Lovren, Michailidis, Baba Rahman; Ozdoev, Schwab; Murg, Konstantelias, Taison; Alexander Jeremejeff.

The second leg of the Europa League play-off will take place on Thursday night local time or Friday early morning in Indonesia at the Balaídos Stadium.

Iago Aspas is a key player for Celta Vigo. The veteran is in his best form, scoring goals in the last two matches in a row.

With an aggregate advantage and solid home performance, Celta Vigo is heavily favored to advance. The player crisis in the PAOK camp makes their comeback mission seem impossible.

Predicted Score: Celta Vigo 2-0 PAOK FC (Aggregate 4-1)