Hearts aim cheeky Celtic dig only for Austrian club to deliver brutal response | OneFootball

Hearts aimed a cheeky dig at Celtic following their European success on Thursday night – only for the joke to quickly come back in their direction.

The Tynecastle side secured their place in the Conference League after overcoming Rapid Vienna on penalties in Austria.

A 2-2 draw sent the play-off tie to a shootout, with Hearts eventually prevailing 4-3 to book their spot in the league phase.

They wasted little time referencing Celtic’s Champions League disaster against LASK the previous evening.

Martin O’Neill’s side had travelled to Linz with a commanding 3-0 first-leg advantage and then moved four goals clear on aggregate, only to suffer an extraordinary collapse and drop into the Europa League.

Hearts took advantage of Celtic’s misery with a post on X which read: “Winning play-offs in Austria isn’t for everyone…”

However, the choice of Austria as the punchline opened the door for a rather painful response.

Sturm Graz replied: “Winning in Graz isn’t for everyone – all the best in the @Conf_League!”

It was a reference to Hearts’ own chastening European experience earlier this summer.

The Jambos were thrashed 4-0 by Sturm in Graz in July before suffering another defeat in the return leg, losing 2-0 at home to complete a comprehensive 6-0 aggregate loss.

Celtic can expect to take plenty of stick following the manner of their collapse against LASK.

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