Celtic Exits Champions League After Relinquishing Four-Goal Aggregate Lead to LASK
| Result | Celtic lost their Champions League play-off tie against Austrian side LASK after surrendering a 4-0 aggregate lead. |
|---|---|
| Next Competition | Celtic drop into the UEFA Europa League. |
| Match Statistics | LASK registered 40 total shots, while Celtic failed to record a shot on target in the second half or extra time. |
| Key Reactions | Captain Callum McGregor called his team's display "passive" and "scared," while manager Martin O'Neill took personal responsibility. |
Scottish football club Celtic were eliminated from the UEFA Champions League play-offs on Tuesday night after relinquishing a four-goal aggregate lead against Austrian side LASK in Linz. The defeat drops Celtic into the Europa League for the upcoming season.
Celtic entered the second leg holding a comfortable advantage following a strong first-leg performance in Glasgow. Captain Callum McGregor extended the Scottish team’s overall lead to 4-0 early in the match with a deflected shot. However, LASK responded in the 32nd minute, scoring an equalizer on the night following a loose pass from Celtic midfielder Benjamin Nygren.
LASK narrowed the aggregate score to 4-2 three minutes after halftime when defender Auston Trusty lost possession under pressure. A third goal for the host team arrived 10 minutes later. As pressure mounted, Celtic struggled to stem LASK’s attack, failing to record a single shot on target throughout the second half of normal time and extra time.
LASK completed their comeback in normal time by scoring a fourth goal in the 90th minute to tie the aggregate score at 4-4. LASK registered 40 shots on goal during the match. In extra time, LASK scored a fifth goal following a mistake by Celtic’s Luke McCowan to take a 5-4 aggregate lead. LASK later missed a penalty kick that would have made the score 6-1 on the night.
Celtic manager Martin O’Neill attempted to halt LASK’s momentum by making five substitutions within a 12-minute spell during the second half, but the changes failed to alter the course of the match. Late in the contest, defender Cameron Carter-Vickers and forward Kasper Hogh were visibly impaired by injury, forcing Celtic to field a makeshift defensive line featuring Anthony Ralston, Dane Murray, Trusty, and Liam Scales.
In post-match comments, McGregor criticized his team’s performance, describing his teammates as “passive” and “scared” during the second-half collapse. He added, “now we’ll see what people are made of.” O’Neill accepted responsibility for the outcome, calling it one of his worst nights in football and admitting the team was “a million miles from the finished article.”
Background
Celtic have suffered several high-profile eliminations in European competitions over recent seasons. Under various management spells, the club has recorded heavy defeats against teams including Borussia Dortmund, Atletico Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, and Barcelona, alongside play-off exits against Midtjylland, Ferencvaros, AEK Athens, Cluj, and Kairat Almaty.
Leave a Reply