LASK 5-1 Celtic

LASK 5-1 Celtic was an Association Football match that happened on 25 August 2026 in the 2026-27 UEFA Champions League Qualifying Play-off Leg 2 that took place at Raiffeisen Arena in Linz, Austria. LASK was 3–0 down after the first leg against Celtic, after a brace from Camillo Duran and a goal from Benjamin Nygren. In the second leg, Celtic scored the first goal to make it 4–0 on aggregate, LASK made a comeback by scoring 5 goals.

Background

LASK had never ever qualified for the UEFA Champions League, and this was the first time they reached the play-offs in the qualifying stage since 2019-20 UEFA Champions League, after winning the 2025-26 Austrian Football Bundesliga. Celtic won the 2025-26 Scottish Premiership.

Celtic's Captain, Callum McGregor got interviewed prior the match, he said "I didn't think we were that good in the first leg, we scored at good times and kind of got away with it. When you play like that, you dont make mistakes whatsoever. We have to suck it up. We apologise to the supporters because there is no way we should lose in that game. We've got to suck it up and now we'll see the character that's in there. When you go 1-0 up in the game and it still doesn't settle you, you can't have any excuse on us. You fall at a big hurdle these questions (on whether the squad is ready) are goint to be asked. You can't lose with that margin and make excuses elsewhere. You'll see what people are made of in terms of what we go on and achieve this season. This is what it's like to play at Celtic. You have to bounce back, you have to show a reaction and that's what Celtic are all about."

LASK's coach, Dietmar Kuhbauer was also interviewed prior the match. He said "The 55-year-old guided LASK to a league and cup double last season and his team have started this campaign with four straight wins. "We believe in ourselves," he said. "Celtic have a little bit more pressure because everybody knows Celtic. "We are a small club, but still a good club. But for Celtic, it's more pressure than for us. "But I don't go into my meeting and tell the guys they (Celtic) have more pressure. "We have to believe in ourselves. We have 90 minutes and we have to play at the highest level. We don't care if they have more pressure."Goalkeeper Lukas Jungwirth will tap into the knowledge of new signing Miguel Freckleton, who played in the St Mirren side that beat Celtic in the Premier Sports Cup final last December. "We already talked with him because maybe he knows a few tricks," he said. "He told us about the atmosphere. It's a great atmosphere. But we should not be scared about this. It should give us a push to perform even better."

Match Summary

First Half

In the fifth minute, Celtic got a chance by Mike Baur, which ended up being off-target. LASK's Samuel Adeniran, Robert Ljubicic and Andres Andrade's shots get blocked in the 10th and 13th minutes. Kasper Hogh for Celtic gets the first shot on target, which is easily saved by Lukas Jungwirth. Alemao's shot in the 19th minute was off-target, and Celtic score the first goal, scored by Callum McGregor and assisted by Yang Hyun-Jun. Kasper Hogh's shot is saved by Lukas Jungwirth. Samuel Adeniran gets 2 shots off-target in the 28th and 29th minute. Moses Usor scores the first goal for LASK in the 32nd minute. Robert Ljubicic and Kasper Jorgensen's shots are off-target. First half ends after 1 minute of stoppage time.

Second Half

LASK start off with a goal from Robert Ljubicic, assisted by Moses Usor in the 48th minute. LASK scores another goal, scored by Samuel Adeniran and assisted by Sascha Horwath in the 58th minute. Sascha Horwath gets a shot off-target in the 62nd minute. Celtic does a double-substitution, substituting off Benjamin Nygren and Yang Hyun-Jun, and substituting on Reo Hatate and Sebastian Tounekti. Andres Andrade gets 2 shots off-target in the 64th and 68th minute. Sascha Horwath gets a shot off-target in the 68th minute and Alemao gets another shot off-target in the 69th minute. Samuel Adeniran's shot hits the post in the 70th minute. Celtic substitutes off Mika Baur and Kieran Tierney to Substitute on Luke McCowan and Liam Scales. Moses Usor from LASK gets a yellow card and Celtic use their last substitution in 90 minutes by substituting on Dane Murray and substituting off Colby Donovan. LASK substitutes off Alessandro Schopf and substitutes on Robert Ljubicic. LASK gets 4 shots off-target then substitutes on Florian Flecker to replace Kasper Jorgensen. Alemao's shot on target gets saved but Florian Flecker scores on the rebound to equalize. Alemao gets a yellow card in stoppage time.

Extra Time

Celtic Substitutes on Anthony Ralston to replace Cameron Carter-Vickers. Moses Usor gets a shot off-target. LASK Substitutes on Krystof Danek, Miguel Freckleton, Christoph Lang, Yvan Dibango to replace Alemao, Sascha Horwath, Moses Usor and Florian Flecker. Luke McCowan gets a yellow card in the 103rd minute. Samuel Adeniran scores the winner in the 109th minute. LASK win a penalty, which is saved and Samuel Adeniran fails to score a hat-trick. The referee blows the whistle in the 122nd minute and LASK win 5–4 on aggregate. Template:Football box

Aftermath

LASK qualified for the 2026-27 UEFA Champions League league phase where they lost the first match 1-0 against AEK Athens at away, where Razvan Marin scored a free-kick for AEK Athens on September 8. At their second match in LASK's UEFA Champions League history, and the first one at home, Raiffeisen Arena, LASK lost 6-3 to Liverpool. LASK was down 3-0 in the first half after Bradley Barcola scored 2 goals and Ronald Araujo scored 1. Florian Flecker scored 2 goals and Robert Ljubicic scored 1, while Liverpool scored 3 more goals in the second half. Celtic also lost their first 2 matches. First against Fenercvarosi where they lost 3-1 at home and they also lost against Benfica 4-1 at away. Mika Baur and Camilo Duran scored the goals for Celtic.