Kasper Hogh of Celtic reacts after the UEFA Champions League 2026/27 Play off round second leg match between LASK and Celtic at on August 25, 2026 in Linz, Austria. (Photo by Christian Bruna/Getty Images)
I wrote on Celtic Shorts that I was feeling relaxed about last night. Surely we had done enough in the first leg?
Surely we had learnt our lessons from all the disasters over the years? Go to Austria, take the sting out of the game, head into Thursday’s draw looking forward to another Champions League campaign.
What an absolute fool I was!This is the Champions League playoff round. We know how this goes…
Martin O’Neill, Manager of Celtic looks on during the UEFA Champions League 2026/27 Play off round second leg match between LASK and Celtic at on August 25, 2026 in Linz, Austria. (Photo by Christian Bruna/Getty Images)
I said that under Martin O’Neill we seemed to have mastered how to play away in Europe. I completely dismissed that he hasn’t had to manage a team in this qualification situation in many many years.
The mental block remains. We just can’t seem to finish the job in these moments. This tie was there for us. Served up on a silver platter. We absolutely blew it. That may be the understatement of the year.
The first thing I’m going to say is that LASK, over the two legs, fully deserved to progress.
Camilo Duran of Celtic reacts after the UEFA Champions League 2026/27 Play off round second leg match between LASK and Celtic at on August 25, 2026 in Linz, Austria. (Photo by Christian Bruna/Getty Images)
3-0 flattered us in the first leg. LASK had huge chances in the first leg and nothing fell their way. Everything went Celtic’s way on the night.
Last night we deserved what we got. We were passive. We were too nervous. We were absolutely terrible. We have been hailing this team as one who could be the most exciting in a long time. This calamity showed they are miles off it.
Even more incredible about tonight is that we actually took the lead. 4-0 on aggregate. How we managed to lose it from there is honestly one of the most inconceivable things I have ever witnessed.
Callum McGregor of Celtic celebrates scoring his team’s first goal with Colby Donovan during the UEFA Champions League 2026/27 Play off round second leg match between LASK and Celtic at on August 25, 2026 in Linz, Austria. (Photo by Christian Bruna/Getty Images)
There are no excuses. We absolutely blew it. After Callum McGregor’s goal we should have slowed the game down. Went completely risk adverse. Defend for your lives for the next 45 minutes. We came out after half time and looked completely lifeless. I honestly can’t even fathom how we lost it from that point.
This result is a sliding door moment. Qualify for the Champions League and this season was set up to be an exciting one. Fans, board, management and players all feeding off the positivity. This one result has ruined it.
I worry how this will effect the season. The negativity around the club over the next period will be enormous. It shouldn’t be this way. Unfortunately it is.
Sebastian Tounekti of Celtic reacts after the UEFA Champions League 2026/27 Play off round second leg match between LASK and Celtic at on August 25, 2026 in Linz, Austria. (Photo by Christian Bruna/Getty Images)
The board will get a lot of hate for this result but honestly, I think the players and the management deserve our ire more than anyone. They let us down tonight. Some of the substitutions were questionable to say the least. Bad decisions were made. Everyone loves Martin O’Neill but he shouldn’t be shielded from criticism. He made mistakes.
There are players who after tonight have no future at Celtic. Luke McCowan looked like he had won a competition when he came on as a sub. I can’t remember a worse performance. I have tried to back him as a squad player in the past but last night proved he’s not even that.
He wasn’t the only one who let us down. Players who have spent the last few weeks getting smoke blown up their rear end failed to deliver when the heat was on.
People talked about Høgh and Duran being world class in recent weeks. Not on last night’s evidence. Nygren started the season looking like a new and improved version of what we seen last season. In Linz all his weaknesses reappeared.
Celtic players pose for a team photograph before during the UEFA Champions League 2026/27 Play off round second leg match between LASK and Celtic at on August 25, 2026 in Linz, Austria. (Photo by Christian Bruna/Getty Images)
Our centre backs looked slow and static all night. They got away with it in the first leg. Not this time.
Another thing that really frustrated me was that we didn’t bring Hassan on. A player with speed who could take us up the pitch. Surely that was a no brainer? How important could he have been in extra time? Or even someone like Callum Osmand? We needed legs and instead we got footballing snails like McCowan, Hatate and Ralston.
Anthony Ralston of Celtic reacts after the UEFA Champions League 2026/27 Play off round second leg match between LASK and Celtic at on August 25, 2026 in Linz, Austria. (Photo by Christian Bruna/Getty Images)
I could dissect this all day long but I don’t need to. You all saw our shortcomings in front of your own eyes.
The fallout from this will be horrendous. What looked like a hugely promising season all disappeared in a puff of smoke in the Raiffeisen Arena.
Where we go from here I don’t know. It was hard to sleep well last night. Didn’t have to worry about nightmares however. I had the worst one of all whilst fully awake.
Conall McGinty
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