Preview: Celta Vigo vs Bologna - prediction, team news, lineups

Vying for a precious top-eight finish in the Europa League table, Celta Vigo and Bologna will battle it out at Balaidos on Thursday evening.

Both occupying a playoff spot, the pair are separated by one point after five matches, with the Spanish side - who recently conquered Real Madrid in La Liga - having their noses in front.

Match preview

Despite losing to Ludogorets Razgrad last month, Celta still sit four points clear of the Europa League's elimination places - and only one shy of the all-important top eight.

When the league phase wraps up next month, they will all proceed directly to the last 16, rather than facing a knockout-round playoff. 

Though the Galician side were beaten 3-2 in Bulgaria, with late goals from Pablo Duran and Jones El-Abdellaoui reducing their deficit after an awful first hour, they remain well placed to progress.

Under Claudio Giraldez, their proactive style has recently begun to reap rewards: across all competitions, Os Celestes have posted seven wins from 10 matches, most notably taking the scalp of mighty Real Madrid last weekend.

Half-time substitute Williot Swedberg was their unlikely hero, bagging a brace at the Bernabeu - where Real finished up with nine men - as Celta moved into La Liga's top half.

Following the club's first away win over Los Blancos since 2006, they will now return to Vigo for a first-ever meeting with Bologna.

Strengthening their grip on a Europa League playoff place, Bologna thumped Red Bull Salzburg 4-1 last month, also improving their chance of sneaking into the final top eight. 

Top scorer and talisman Riccardo Orsolini capped off the scoring at Stadio Dall'Ara, as the Rossoblu took their unbeaten streak to 12 games across all competitions.

However, since then, they have finally tasted defeat, starting December with a shock 3-1 home loss to Cremonese.

After bouncing back three days later, starting their Coppa Italia defence by knocking out local rivals Parma, Vincenzo Italiano's side then slipped further behind Italy's top four last weekend.

Bologna were held to a 1-1 draw by Lazio on Sunday evening, despite playing the closing stages with an extra man, and they now sit fifth in the Serie A standings.

Still, the Emilian club are on track to qualify for Europe, while this season's continental campaign has gathered momentum following a fairly slow start.

With the bottom 12 teams to be eliminated, though, there remains little room for error across their final three fixtures - the first of which will be a tough test in Spain.
 

Celta Vigo Europa League form:

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Celta Vigo form (all competitions):

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Bologna Europa League form:

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Bologna form (all competitions):

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Team News

© Imago / ZUMA Press Wire

Celta centre-back Joseph Aidoo is still sidelined by a hamstring injury, while Duran was withdrawn at half time against Real Madrid, due to a shoulder problem. Swedberg impressively replaced the latter, scoring twice, so he could be handed a start on Thursday.

Among others, the Swedish winger will vie with Bryan Zaragoza for selection, after the Bayern Munich loanee set up both goals as a substitute against Ludogorets, taking his Europa League assists tally to three.

While Duran is Celta's top scorer in the league phase with three goals, Bologna trio Jens Odgaard, Thijs Dallinga and Orsolini have each scored twice so far.

Having served a one-match ban against Salzburg, Charalampos Lykogiannis is now available to compete with Juan Miranda for selection at left-back. 

However, Remo Freuler, Martin Vitik, Nicolo Casale and first-choice goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski will all be missing from the Rossoblu's squad due to injury.

Celta Vigo possible starting lineup:

Radu; J. Rodriguez, Starfelt, Alonso; Carreira, D. Rodriguez, Beltran, Mingueza; Swedberg, Zaragoza; Jutgla

Bologna possible starting lineup:

Ravaglia; Holm, Lucumi, Heggem, Lykogiannis; Moro, Ferguson; Orsolini, Odgaard, Bernardeschi; Dallinga

We say: Celta Vigo 2-2 Bologna 

Both teams have pulled off some impressive results of late - beating Real Madrid and Napoli between them - and they seem well-matched in many respects.

Celta's big weekend win will boost morale, but Bologna carry a real threat in the final third and could escape Balaidos with a valuable point.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.