In what has been a really up and down season for Celtic, they have done well to navigate a path through to the Europa League knockout phase play-off.

Having got to this stage of the competition, there is no doubt they face a stern test on Thursday against a Stuttgart side brimming with quality and challenging for the Bundesliga's Champions League spots.

Former Germany international defender Andreas Hinkel – who played for both clubs – is expecting "two tight games".

But what is the key to Celtic finding a way of achieving what would be a very notable European scalp?

Upsetting Stuttgart's rhythm could be the key.

Hinkel, who also coached at the Bundesliga club, explains: "In general Stuttgart, they always want to have control, they want to have the ball, it is always difficult to press them.

"Sebastian Hoeness, the manager, he wants to dominate the game so I think this is a key thing at Celtic Park as well.

"If Celtic can press, if Celtic can destroy the build-up, if they are inside the game, the crowd is there - something can happen at Celtic Park.

"If Stuttgart take control, of course the crowd will be a little bit quieter, it can affect the game so I think it is quite important how it goes on at Celtic Park."

Stuttgart's quality is illustrated by the fact they finished 11th in the competition's league phase standings - just one point behind the top eight who automatically progressed to the round of 16.

The German side are a solid collective unit, but within that are individuals Martin O'Neill and his team will have to be very wary of.

"I don't want to mention just one player but I think [Deniz] Undav, the striker, is in good shape at the moment," Hinkel says.

"But we have some other players like [Jamie] Leweling, [Chris] Fuhrich, there are a few players there with a big target, they want to go to the World Cup and they want to present themselves as good as they can for the German national team."

Hinkel believes Stuttgart may have "a small advantage over the two legs because the second one is at home".

If Celtic are looking for an added source of optimism it could perhaps come from Stuttgart's away record in this season's competition.

They have lost three of their four away games - at Basel, Fenerbahce and Roma.

Although it should be said there is no shame in that, and a 4-0 win at Dutch side Go Ahead Eagles is also an impressive outlier.

"The first leg at Celtic Park is important because away over the years Stuttgart had some results in the Champions League or the Europa League where they lost quite heavily," said Hinkel.

"For example, in Belgrade they lost 5-1. If you have a game like this at Celtic Park everything can happen if the crowd is there and team gets into the rhythm and they play and attack and something can happen like that.

"Stuttgart is a very good side, they are fighting for the Champions League places in Germany but since Martin O'Neill took over again, Celtic get the results. They get results when it is not that easy - it is always close at the end, maybe in injury time.

"But they get the results and it is a good side and I think the mentality is back so I expect tight games."