Celtic suffered one of the most devastating nights in their European history after squandering a four-goal aggregate lead to lose 5-4 to LASK in Austria. The Scottish champions, who appeared in control of the tie, experienced a second-half collapse at the Raiffeisen Arena that ultimately led to an extra-time defeat.
The loss marks a significant low point for the club, arguably surpassing their penalty shootout exit to Kairat Almaty at the same stage of the Champions League play-offs last season. Following the final whistle, manager Martin O’Neill did not shy away from the magnitude of the failure.
“I’m responsible for this one,” O’Neill stated clearly. He admitted that while the 2003 Uefa Cup final defeat took him a long time to overcome, this specific result was deeply disappointing because it occurred in a qualifying fixture that his team should have navigated successfully.
Reflecting on the performance, O’Neill acknowledged that the squad remains far from a finished product. “We know that we are a million miles from the finished article. That’s absolutely true. I think we thought that anyway,” he added.
The dramatic implosion leaves Celtic facing a difficult period of introspection as they process a match that saw them surrender a commanding position with little evidence of a tactical response as the game slipped away. The report also notes that naturally it took me a long time to get over the Uefa Cup final in 2003 but this was majorly disappointing.
