Celtic head to Lithuania for play-off round

Celtic will travel to Lithuania next week after Suduva sealed a Europa League playoff against the Scottish champions.

Suduva held out for a goalless home draw against Latvian side Spartaks Jurmala to clinch a 1-0 aggregate win.

Celtic will face Suduva away on Thursday after defeat by AEK Athens knocked them out of the Champions League reckoning, with the second leg in Glasgow on 30 August.

Celtic previously faced Suduva in the 2002-03 season, kicking off their run to the Uefa Cup final that season with a 10-1 aggregate victory over the Lithuanians in the first round.

Martin O’neill’s side won the first leg 8-1 at Celtic Park then fielded a mainly second-string side for the second leg in Lithuania, winning 2-0.

Hibs’ conquerors Molde will meet Zenit St Petersburg in the Europa League play-off round after the Russian side pulled off an amazing 8-5 aggregate win over Dinamo Minsk. Zenit, 4-0 down from last week’s first leg, forced extra time through doubles by Leandro Paredes and Artem Dzyuba, despite the former being sent off for a second booking with 20 minutes remaining. Dinamo moved ahead in the tie 5-4 nine minutes into extra time through Seidu Yahaya.

However, the hosts went on to score a further four times including a Dzyuba penalty and a Robert Mak brace to seal a stunning victory.

Zenit now face Molde at home in next Thursday’s first leg as the sides battle it out for a place in the group stages. Welsh club The New Saints exited the competition after failing to overcome a 2-0 deficit from the first leg as they lost 3-1 away from home (5-1 on aggregate) to Danish side Midtjylland.