By SCM Sports Correspondent
Thessaloniki, February 19, 2026
CELTA VIGO have one foot in the Europa League Round of 16 after a vintage Iago Aspas performance inspired a 2-1 first-leg victory over PAOK FC at the intimidating Toumba Stadium.
On a night where the “Black and Whites” of Thessaloniki expected to make their home advantage count, it was the evergreen Aspas who silenced the raucous Greek crowd.
The Spanish veteran showed no signs of slowing down, opening the scoring in the 34th minute with a clinical finish into the bottom corner after a sublime improvised flick from Miguel Román.
The Galicians doubled their lead just nine minutes later. Román was the architect again, turning provider for Williot Swedberg, who made no mistake in finding the exact same corner to leave the home side shell-shocked at the break.
PAOK, missing suspended talisman Georgios Giakoumakis, struggled to find their rhythm for much of the match. However, they were handed a lifeline in the 77th minute.
Alexander Jeremejeff latched onto a defense-splitting through ball from Andrija Zivkovic to fire past Ionut Radu, setting up a grandstand finish.
Despite a late surge from the hosts and a few nervy moments in stoppage time, Claudio Giráldez’s men held firm to snap a five-game winless streak and take a vital lead back to Spain.
