Celtic to face Austrian Champions LASK in Champions League Play-off | OneFootball

Celtic today discovered their opponents in the UEFA Champions League play-off with the ties scheduled to take place later this month…

Martin O’Neill’s Scottish Champions have been drawn against Austrian Champions LASK with the first leg of the play-off tie taking place at Celtic Park on 18/19 August with the away leg being played on 25/26 August.

It’s a £40m shoot-out between the two Champions for a place in the League Phase of this season’s Champions League and Celtic will need to be ready for what will be a stern test. Success is paramount and it also gives us a chance to put the ghost of the Kairat Almaty debacle to bad once and for all. That defeat was costly financially and it also cast a horrible shadow over the entire season last year, as Martin O’Neill recently noted.

Austria ADMIRAL Bundesliga 20262027, Matchday 1, July 31, 2026: Linzer ASK LASK vs. Grazer AK 1902 GAK at Raiffeisen Arena, Linz, AustriaTeam, Squad, Players, LASK vs. GAK, Admiral Bundesliga. Photo IMAGO

Like Celtic, LASK won a league and cup double last season. The Austrian Bundesliga triumph was only the second time that they had lifted the trophy and they will hope that that momentum will be able to take them past the Hoops. The Austrian Champions will be well aware of Celtic’s terrible record in Champions League play-off matches and will look to exploit that as much as possible, using it as a motivating factor for their team.

The Austrian top flight ranks one place above the Scottish Premiership in UEFA’s coefficient rankings, but LASK have 15 points fewer than Celtic in the club coefficient table.

Austria ADMIRAL Bundesliga 20262027, Matchday 1, July 31, 2026 Linzer ASK LASK vs. Grazer AK 1902 GAK Raiffeisen Arena, Linz, Austria in Pictures Like the Phoenix Rising from the Ashes, Choreography, LASK Fans vs. GAK, Admiral Bundesliga, Raiffeisen Arena, Like the Phoenix Rising from the Ashes. Photo IMAGO

It’s looking like an evenly contested tie with Celtic going to have to be up to speed and at our best for the challenge. Unlike last season we have two top goalscorers at this level in our team and hopefully more arrivals will be incoming before the tie.

The cautious yet costly strategy of waiting for the outcome of the qualifier before committing further financial resources to recruitment needs to be binned.

Austria ADMIRAL Bundesliga 20262027, Matchday 1, July 31, 2026: Linzer ASK LASK vs. Grazer AK 1902 GAK at Raiffeisen Arena, Linz, Austriafeatured on SKY, interview with Dietmar Kuehbauer, coach, LASK, Dietmar Didi Kuehbauer, before the match against GAK, Raiffeisen Arena, Admiral Bundesliga. Photo IMAGO

Travelling to Austria for the away tie certainly beats that trip to the other side of the world last year to play Kairat Almaty. That’s a real bonus and one Celtic should look to take full advantage of.

The tie is winnable but the team needs additions. We all know that but this evening we will get the chance to assess for ourselves how ready Celtic is looking for the most important matches of the season.

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