Celtic produced one of the great collapses in the club's long European history on Tuesday night, blowing a four-goal aggregate lead to crash out of Champions League qualifying to Austria's LASK.
Having won the first leg 3-0 at home, Celtic looked to have the tie wrapped up when captain Callum McGregor struck in the 21st minute at LASK's Raiffeisen Arena in Linz to put the Scottish champions 4-0 up on aggregate.
What followed was a stunning reversal. Moses Usor pulled a goal back in the 32nd minute, Robert Ljubicic made it 2-1 on the night just before the hour, and Samuel Adeniran added a third from 25 yards to level the aggregate score at 4-4.
Celtic held on to force extra time, or so it seemed, until substitute Florian Flecker headed home a 90th-minute equaliser that sent the tie beyond 90 minutes at 4-4 on aggregate.
Adeniran, LASK's standout performer, then struck again from distance in the 109th minute to put the Austrian side ahead on aggregate for the first time in the tie, and further goals in extra time completed a 5-1 win on the night and a 5-4 aggregate victory.
The defeat means Celtic will drop into the Europa League league phase rather than the lucrative Champions League group stage, missing out on Europe's top club competition for a second straight season after last year's playoff exit on penalties to Kairat Almaty.
Interim manager Martin O'Neill did not hide his frustration afterwards. "We should've been out of sight by half-time. We missed two great opportunities," he said, pointing to chances that could have killed the tie long before LASK found their way back into it.
McGregor, whose goal had briefly made Celtic's passage look a formality, was equally blunt in his assessment. "We got what we deserved. I thought we were passive all night," the midfielder said.
It capped a turbulent year at Celtic Park that saw Brendan Rodgers leave the club in October 2025, an interim spell for Wilfried Nancy end in his sacking in January, and O'Neill twice asked to steady the ship — a backdrop against which Tuesday's collapse will sting all the more.
