Martin O’Neill’s side face the Austrian Bundesliga winners in a two-legged tie for a place in the Champions League league phase.
Celtic have been drawn against LASK in the UEFA Champions League play-off round, the draw confirmed in Nyon, Switzerland on Monday. It is a meeting of champions – LASK won the Austrian Bundesliga last season, and the two sides will now contest a two-legged tie for a place in Europe’s top club competition.
The first leg takes place at Celtic Park on 18 or 19 August, with the return leg in Linz on 25 or 26 August. The loser drops into the Europa League, with the stakes described as a £40 million shoot-out between the two champions for a place in the league phase.
Celtic’s potential opponents in the draw also included Norwegian counterparts Viking Stavanger and the winners of ties involving Celje, Ararat-Armenia, Kairat Almaty and Levski Sofia. The Austrian top flight ranks one place above the Scottish Premiership in UEFA’s coefficient rankings, though LASK have 15 points fewer than Celtic in the club coefficient table.
The Ghost of Kairat
The shadow of last season hangs over this tie. A defeat at this same stage of the competition last year – against Kairat Almaty – was costly financially and cast a difficult shadow over the entire campaign. Celtic will be determined to avoid a repeat.
LASK are formidable opponents. Like Celtic, they completed a league and cup double last season – their Austrian Bundesliga triumph was only the second time they had lifted the trophy. The Austrian champions will be well aware of Celtic’s recent record in Champions League play-off matches and will look to use that as a motivating factor.
The tie is nonetheless winnable. Celtic have home advantage in the first leg, the backing of their supporters, and – unlike last season – two top goalscorers at this level in the squad. Travelling to Linz for the away leg is also considerably more straightforward than the trip to Kazakhstan last year, a genuine logistical advantage Celtic should look to exploit.
The cautious approach to recruitment that proved costly last season cannot be repeated. Getting the right players in before the first leg will be critical to Celtic’s chances of reaching the league phase.