From 4-0 up to out, Celtic implode as LASK storm into Champions League

It was a result that will be remembered for all the wrong reasons in Glasgow. LASK, meanwhile, completed the biggest comeback in their history to reach the Champions League league phase for the first time, turning what looked like a lost cause into a night of total chaos and disbelief.

Even with such a big lead from the first leg, Celtic knew the tie was not technically done.

Match hightlight

LASK started with enough intent to make that point quickly. Mika Baur nearly created an early opener with a clever flick, and Kasper Hogh soon wasted a huge chance on the counter. The warning signs were there, but for a while it looked as if Celtic would calm the night down.

And midway through the half, they did more than that.

Yang Hyun-jun pulled the ball back for captain Callum McGregor, whose first-time strike took a deflection off Andrade and wrong-footed Lukas Jungwirth. At that moment, with Celtic scoring and still holding what looked like a massive aggregate cushion, the tie seemed almost finished.

That made what followed even harder to believe. Hogh missed another good chance, and then Celtic gifted LASK a route back in. Benjamin Nygren, so impressive in the first leg, played a careless ball back that Moses Usor punished ruthlessly to cut the aggregate gap.

Even then, Celtic still went into the break 3 goals clear overall. The real collapse came after half-time.

LASK came out flying and quickly made the pressure real. Usor turned provider for Robert Ljubicic, who finished to put the home side 2-1 up on the night, and suddenly the crowd sensed something bigger might be possible.

Then came the goal that truly shook Celtic. Around the hour mark, Samuel Adeniran, who had wasted chances in Glasgow a week earlier, unleashed a stunning curling strike from 30 metres to make it 3-1 and drag LASK within touching distance of the impossible.

At that point, the whole stadium changed. Raiffeisen Arena was bouncing, Celtic were wobbling badly, and the Scottish champions looked like a team hanging on rather than one calmly protecting a lead. Adeniran even rattled the crossbar before the end of normal time, with LASK pouring forward and Celtic offering almost nothing in response.

They nearly survived anyway. But in stoppage time, substitute Florian Flecker was in the right place to head home from close range and force extra time, completing the aggregate comeback and dragging Celtic into a place they had spent the whole night trying to avoid.

Even then, there was still a chance to steady themselves. The first period of extra time was scrappy and tense, but Celtic could not get control back. Eventually, another mistake killed them. Luke McCowan lost the ball in a dangerous area, Adeniran surged onto it and drilled a low finish beyond Sinisalo to put LASK ahead in the tie for the first time all night.

That was the killer blow. Adeniran even had the chance to complete his hat-trick from the penalty spot later on, only for Sinisalo to save, but by then it barely mattered. LASK held on, the comeback was complete, and Celtic were left staring at one of the most brutal exits they are likely to suffer in Europe for a very long time.

Instead of the Champions League, they now drop into the Europa League.