Celtic surrendered a four-goal aggregate advantage as LASK produced a remarkable 5-1 extra-time victory in Austria to win their Champions League play-off 5-4 on aggregate and send the Scottish champions into the Europa League.
Callum McGregor had extended Celtic’s 3-0 first-leg lead early in the match, putting the visitors 4-0 ahead overall and seemingly on course for Thursday’s Champions League league-phase draw.
But the Scottish champions collapsed under sustained pressure. Moses Usor, Robert Ljubicic and Samuel Adeniran brought LASK back into the tie before substitute Florian Flecker headed in an equaliser in the 90th minute to force extra time.
LASK continued to dominate as Celtic struggled to respond to the intensity of the Austrian champions. Adeniran struck from distance again in the 109th minute, moving LASK ahead on aggregate for the first time.
The forward then had the opportunity to settle the tie from the penalty spot after Reo Hatate fouled Krystof Danek deep into extra time. However, Celtic goalkeeper Viljami Sinisalo saved the spot-kick and briefly kept his side’s hopes alive.
Celtic could not take advantage of that reprieve, with the final whistle confirming one of the most painful European exits in the club’s history. They will miss out on the Champions League for a second successive season, having lost to Kairat Almaty on penalties at the same stage last season.
The scale of this year’s disappointment will be particularly difficult for Celtic to overcome, given that they had held a four-goal aggregate lead during the second leg.
The result means Celtic will instead take part in the Europa League league phase. Its draw, which also involves Bournemouth, Sunderland and Crystal Palace, takes place at 12:00 BST on Friday.
Celtic captain Callum McGregor, speaking to Amazon Prime, said: “We got what we deserved. I thought we were passive all night. We actually looked scared to go and win the game.
“To be honest, I don’t think we were that good in the first leg either and we kind of got away with it. But then you’re up 3-0 and think you have a chance. When you play like that, you can’t have any excuse whatsoever.
“We have to suck it up. We apologise to the supporters and to the club because there’s no way we should lose that game. Now we have to see what character we have.
“You can’t lose the game by such a big margin and look for excuses elsewhere. This is where we see what people are made of in terms of what we achieve this season.”
Celtic had appeared to be in complete control after McGregor’s early goal added to the advantage established in the first leg. Instead, LASK’s response transformed the contest, with Usor and Ljubicic reducing the deficit before Adeniran’s first long-range effort gave the home side genuine belief.
Flecker’s late header completed the comeback in normal time and ensured Celtic would have to survive another 30 minutes. Adeniran’s extra-time strike finally put LASK in front, while Sinisalo’s penalty save offered Celtic one last chance to recover.
That chance disappeared when LASK held on to complete a stunning turnaround and leave Celtic facing another campaign outside Europe’s leading club competition.
