Celtic handed Benfica trip as Hearts draw Monaco and Trabzonspor

Celtic will travel to Benfica and welcome Marseille in the 2026-27 Europa League league phase, while Hearts have been paired with Monaco and Trabzonspor in the Conference League. BBC Sport reported the Scottish clubs' draws on Friday, with the SPFL and STV subsequently publishing their full lists of opponents.

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The SPFL said Celtic's four home games will be against Marseille, Ferencvaros, Celta Vigo and Besiktas. Martin O'Neill's Scottish champions will play Benfica, Torreense, Union Saint-Gilloise and Omonia away from home, giving them eight different opponents in the expanded league format.

Exact dates and kick-off times were not immediately confirmed. UEFA said the Europa League and Conference League fixture lists would be communicated no later than Sunday, August 30, after the draws at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco. Friday's Europa League draw contained 36 clubs, including automatic qualifiers, play-off winners and teams transferred from Champions League qualifying.

Hearts will play Monaco, Borac and Nordsjaelland at home in the Conference League. Their three away assignments are against Pafos, Trabzonspor and Thun, according to the complete draw published by STV. The Edinburgh club reached the league phase after eliminating Rapid Vienna on penalties following a 2-2 draw in Austria.

STV reported that Hearts recovered after conceding first and going down to 10 players when Tomas Magnusson was sent off in the 75th minute. Landry Kabore equalised, Calvin Miller later put Hearts ahead in the tie, and a 119th-minute Rapid goal made the aggregate score 4-4. Goalkeeper Beau Reus then made two saves in the shoot-out. Hearts had previously dropped into the Conference League path after defeat by Benfica in the Europa League play-offs.

UEFA's league system places 36 teams in each competition. Europa League clubs play eight matches, split evenly between home and away, while Conference League clubs play six. The top eight teams advance directly to the round of 16, teams placed ninth through 24th enter knockout phase play-offs, and those finishing 25th or lower are eliminated from Europe. Clubs do not transfer into another UEFA competition after elimination at this stage.