<\/amp-img><\/amp-iframe><\/div>\nTrailing 3-0 from the first leg, LASK found themselves 4-0 down on aggregate midway through the first half after Celtic captain Callum McGregor struck for the Scottish visitors.<\/p>\n
But Nigerian midfielder Moses Usor gave LASK hope just before the break and Celtic started to capitulate.<\/p>\n
Goals from Robert Ljubicic, American forward Adeniran and an injury time Florian Flecker effort from close range sent the tie into extra-time.<\/p>\n
Adeniran put LASK ahead in the second period of extra-time and could have completed his hat-trick but saw his penalty saved by Finland goalkeeper Viljami Sinisalo.<\/p>\n
Having finished second from bottom in the Europa Conference League league stage last season, LASK will now play in the Champions League group stage for the first time.<\/p>\n<\/amp-img>Cameron Carter-Vickers 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)<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/amp-img>LINZ, AUSTRIA – AUGUST 25: Samuel Adeniran of LASK celebrates scoring his team\u2019s fifth goal with teammates 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)<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nCeltic were left stunned with O\u2019Neill telling Amazon Prize when asked if it was one of worst European nights in charge of the club: \u201cIt is absolutely.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I\u2019d put it below losing the UEFA Cup final in 2003,\u201d the 74-year-old added.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Neill, who stepped in as an interim manager last year but took on the role full-time and denied Hearts a fairytale title on the final day of the season, took full responsibility for the collapse.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe scored a goal, missed two great opportunities, and then we gave them a lifeline before half-time, then one after it and they came roaring back,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s my team and that\u2019s my responsibility.<\/p>\n<\/amp-img>Martin O’Neill, Manager of Celtic looks 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)<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u201cAt half-time even though we conceded a poor goal before that I thought we were still well in command of the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard to stem it when they are chasing the game, we can\u2019t get out for 10 minutes. We seemed to have weathered the storm then they scored to take it to extra time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m disappointed that we\u2019ve conceded goals in the manner we did. It\u2019s my team, I\u2019m responsible for it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are tough games. I know it was a qualifier, but it felt like a Champions League game tonight.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re a fine side, but that doesn\u2019t matter. We should have been able to see it through. Talking about the squad, that\u2019s for another day.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe players will be massively disappointed, especially because we took a three-goal lead here.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s a massive disappointment. I know we\u2019re playing in the Europa League, but that\u2019s a scant consolation this evening. There was a feel-good factor about and it\u2019s become a real disappointment tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
McGregor, who scored the goal to put Celtic four goals ahead in the two-leg tie, shared his manager\u2019s heartbreak.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you play like that you can\u2019t have any excuses whatsoever,\u201d the captain told Amazon Prime.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you go 1-0 up in the game and it still doesn\u2019t settle you, you can\u2019t have any excuse and that\u2019s on us.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou fall at a big hurdle and these questions [on whether the squad are ready] are going to be asked. You can\u2019t lose by that margin then look for excuses elsewhere.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is what it\u2019s like to play at Celtic. You have to bounce back, you have to show a reaction and that\u2019s what Celtic are all about.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/amp-img>Callum McGregor of Celtic celebrates scoring his team\u2019s 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)<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nElsewhere, Gabon forward Orphe Mbina scored the clinching goal as Azerbaijan\u2019s Sabah came from behind against Hapoel Beer-Shiva to book a first ever participation in the Champions League group stage.<\/p>\n
Trailing 2-1 to the Israelis from the first leg, Sabah found themselves 1-0 and 2-1 down on their home pitch in Baku.<\/p>\n
But Tellur Mutallimov\u2019s injury time strike sent the tie to extra-time and goals from Mbina and Rwandan international Joy-Lance Mickels gave Sabah a 5-2 win on the night and 6-4 aggregate success.<\/p>\n
Hapoel had Senegal defender Djibril Diop and Israel midfielder Eliel Peretz sent off in extra-time.<\/p>\n
Last year\u2019s surprise package, Bodo\/Glimt, cruised into the group stage for the second year running with a 2-0 victory over 10-man NEC Nijmegen, who had goalkeeper Gonzalo Crettaz dismissed after just three minutes.<\/p>\n
Bodo\/Glimt reached the last 16 in last season\u2019s competition as they registered shock victories over Manchester City, Atletico Madrid and Inter Milan.<\/p>\n
Strikes by Fredrik Andre Bjorkan and Sondre Auklend, as well as a Deveron Fonville own goal, gave the Norwegians a 3-0 win on the night and 6-1 aggregate success against their Dutch visitors.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Celtic manager Martin O\u2019Neill has declared it \u201cabsolutely\u201d one of his worst nights managing the Glasgow giants as the Scottish champions blew a four-goal lead in their UEFA Champions League playoff qualifier against Austria\u2019s LASK. Samuel Adeniran\u2019s strike 11 minutes from the end of extra-time completed a stunning comeback for the hosts in Linz as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":259543,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6807],"tags":[156],"class_list":{"0":"post-259542","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leagues-cups","8":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259542"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259542\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}