Celtic’s Champions League play-off against LASK will begin at Parkhead on Wednesday 19 August with an 8pm BST kick-off, before the Hoops travel to Linz for the return leg on Tuesday 25 August, also at 8pm BST. The draw took place at UEFA headquarters in Nyon on Monday morning, with UEFA confirming the dates and kick-off times later the same day.
Despite being the seeded side, Celtic will host first – a quirk of the draw rather than any structural rule. A strong home performance on the 19th becomes even more important given the Hoops then head to Austria needing a result.
For UK viewers, all UEFA Champions League matches are broadcast by TNT Sports, apart from one game on Tuesdays, when Amazon Prime Video gets first pick of matches. With no other British clubs involved in the play-off round, the first leg at Celtic Park is set to be broadcast on TNT Sports 1 and HBO Max, while the second leg in Linz will be live on Amazon Prime Video.
The Opponent and What’s At Stake
LASK arrive as Austrian Bundesliga champions, having pipped Sturm Graz by two points last season and completing a domestic double with the Austrian Cup – only the third time in their history they’ve managed that, the previous occasion being 61 years ago. Domestically, they are in form and full of confidence. In European competition, however, they’ve won just one of their last 14 continental games and finished 35th in last season’s Conference League. That context matters.
Win the tie and Celtic are in the Champions League league phase. Lose it and they drop into the Europa League – a significant financial and competitive demotion. This is emphatically not a footnote to the season; it is the season’s opening statement.
History Says Celtic Need to Be Better
Celtic’s record against Austrian clubs makes for sobering reading: played 13, won 3, drawn 3, lost 7. Their solitary 21st-century win over Austrian opposition came only last October – a 2-1 Europa League comeback against Sturm Graz, settled by Liam Scales and Benjamin Nygren. That was their first win over an Austrian side in the 21st century, coming at the seventh attempt.
Celtic have not successfully come through Champions League qualifying since 2017, having been eliminated subsequently by AEK Athens, CFR Cluj, Ferencváros, Midtjylland, and Kairat Almaty across the intervening years. Last season’s penalty exit to Kairat, after 210 scoreless minutes, still stings. This is the chance to change that narrative.
What Happens Next
Celtic must submit their play-off squad list to UEFA by 13 August. Clubs are permitted to add a maximum of two new signings to that squad, provided they are registered by 11pm on 18 August. That registration deadline will focus minds in the boardroom over the coming fortnight.
The squad deadline for the Champions League league phase itself falls on 2 September – a day before Scotland’s transfer window closes – so any late business after that point would not count for Europe. Two big nights, an enormous prize, and history urging Celtic to be better than they’ve been.