Celtic's Champions League Curse Continues After Crushing Defeat

Six attempts in eight years. Six failures. Celtic’s Champions League curse rolls on, but rarely has the inquest felt this raw.

They were 3-0 up from the first leg in Glasgow. They went 1-0 ahead in Linz. With an hour gone in Austria, Martin O’Neill’s side still held a three-goal cushion in the tie. From that position, clubs with Celtic’s budget and history are supposed to stroll over the line.

Instead, they disintegrated.

LASK’s late equaliser in the 90th minute to make it 4-4 on aggregate felt like the final twist, but not a shock. The fifth, the winner, had been coming for most of a second half in which Celtic were pummelled, pinned back and eventually broken. A European campaign that had begun with four straight wins and 13 goals ended in humiliation.

From “rosy” to ruin in 90 brutal minutes.

Fear, errors and a midfield that vanished

Callum McGregor did not sugar-coat it. The captain admitted Celtic looked “scared” and “passive” as LASK poured forward in waves. The body language matched the words: a team retreating, not resisting.

The mistakes were as glaring as the scoreline. Benjamin Nygren, Auston Trusty and Luke McCowan all coughed up errors that led directly to goals. Celtic’s midfield, so often the club’s pride, simply failed to compete. Second balls were lost, runners weren’t tracked, and the game tilted inexorably towards the Austrians.

O’Neill stood in front of the cameras and took the blame. Former captain Scott Brown, watching on, wasn’t buying that it was all on the manager.

“I feel for Martin because he’s taking full responsibility,” Brown told BBC Scotland. “I’ve been in Martin’s situation. When you get humiliated in a game, you need to take that pressure off the players because in a week’s time they’ve got another game.”

By full-time, Celtic’s back four told its own story. Third-choice right-back Anthony Ralston. Trusty, who had been ill and missed training in the build-up. Academy defender Dane Murray, still largely untested at this level. Liam Scales shunted out of position at left-back.

Brown’s verdict on the squad’s depth was blunt: this is not a group built to survive at the sharp end of the Champions League qualifiers.

“The substitutes aren’t Martin’s players,” he said. “The strength and depth in areas still needs a little bit of quality because the players that came on didn’t hit the same level as the ones that went off.”

Recruitment, departures and a glaring hole

Celtic have not been inactive in the market. Forwards Kasper Hogh and Camilo Duran arrived for significant fees. Mika Baur came in to bolster midfield, Haissem Hassan to add width.

But the exits cut deeper than the arrivals soothed. Daizen Maeda went to Ipswich Town. Arne Engels left for West Ham United. Both were key players. Both were gone before the biggest tie of the season.

Former striker Chris Sutton questioned on social media why Celtic allowed such influential figures to depart on the eve of a crucial qualifier. Brown honed in on Engels as the loss that changed the whole dynamic of the midfield.

“What they’re missing is probably another physical centre-midfielder that can be alongside [McGregor] in there to help him out,” Brown said. “Because Arne Engels is a huge miss physically, not just for the battle, but his legs and running power as well, getting in behind, but his mentality as well.”

Without that ballast, Celtic wilted when LASK raised the tempo.

A £20m swing – and a shrinking financial gap

This is not just about pride. It is about money. A lot of it.

When Celtic reached the Champions League play-off round in 2024-25 before losing to Bayern Munich, they posted revenue of £143m, placing them among Europe’s top 60 earners. That same season, Ipswich Town – then the poorest Premier League club financially – still brought in £155m. LASK’s last reported turnover? Just £42m.

On paper, Celtic should not be losing this kind of tie. Certainly not from 3-0 up.

Football finance expert Kieran Maguire estimates the cost of this failure at more than £20m.

“For every £100 generated in the Champions League in terms of prize money, it works out at about £22 in the Europa League and about £11 in the Conference League,” he told BBC Sport Scotland.

“Celtic made about £45m in season 2024-25 when they got to the Champions League knockout play-off – that’s total prize money, including the SPFL money, but it’s still indicative of how successful the competition can be.

“Aston Villa, who won the Europa League last year, probably made somewhere in the region of £30-35m and at least they have the benefit of automatically qualifying for the Champions League.

“It is a blow for Celtic. If you look at their share price today, it is down about 4-5%, reflecting that impact on future revenues.”

The damage stretches beyond UEFA cheques. Two years ago, Celtic charged £44 more for an adult four-match Champions League ticket package than for the Europa League equivalent. Corporate and hospitality prices ballooned even further when the continent’s elite came to Glasgow.

O’Neill admitted transfer targets will now have to be reassessed. Maguire pointed out that sponsor bonuses tied to Champions League participation will likely vanish too.

Celtic’s support will still fill the stadium, whether the visitors are Real Madrid or Raith Rovers. But when the giants don’t come, the club cannot name its price.

“We are not a Champions League club. Simple.”

The anger in the stands has spilled into the airwaves and comment sections.

Gerry was scathing: “Callum McGregor says we’ll now see what people are made of. Bit late. Should have said that after we gifted LASK their first goal. We are not a Champions League club. Simple. The board are a shambles and responsible for the club’s failures again and again.”

Eamonn pointed at years of drift rather than a single bad night. “Shocking but not surprised. The squad is the accumulation of four or five disastrous windows. Four recent signings weren’t going to fix that.”

Martin turned his fire on the board’s timing in the market. “We are a club that have a board that wait until we get into the Champions League before spending any meaningful cash when we actually need a board that spends meaningful cash to ensure we have the best possible chance of negotiating these horrible qualifiers. Celtic were dead on their feet at the end – one of the worst results and performances in our modern history.”

Patrick spared almost nobody. “Viljami Sinisalo is the only player who showed up, everyone else was a passenger. Reo Hatate and Luke McCowan should be kicked out the door. Another year, another wasted effort. What a terrible loss. The fans deserve better – the players, the board, the club are fortunate to be where they are. Odds on Martin O’Neill gone by Christmas?”

Danny’s verdict was no softer: “Heartbreaking loss. Players didn’t show up. Sinisalo was great, but our lack of depth and quality was harshly exposed. We scored some screamers last week and got away with a couple. Reality came back to bite us. Credit to LASK.”

Paul, too, questioned whether Celtic even belong in the competition playing like this. “Fell short again. Playing like that, it’s probably best we’re not in the Champions League. McCowan should never get another game for Celtic. Sebastian Tounekti, Yang Hyun-jun and Anthony Ralston should be told to find another club. Martin O’Neill needs to take his share of the blame for this. Team didn’t know whether to go for it or defend.”

This is not a routine exit. It feels like a breaking point.

Scotland’s slide and what comes next

Once, not long ago, Scotland sat ninth in UEFA’s coefficient table. That was between 2021 and 2023. From that lofty perch came a guaranteed Champions League group-stage spot for the Premiership winners and only two qualifying rounds for the runners-up.

That era already feels distant.

The decline has been sharp. Scotland now sit 18th in the rankings. This season’s champions will start in the second qualifying round of the Champions League. The runners-up drop into the Conference League qualifiers.

Celtic’s collapse in Linz has become a symbol of that slide, but it does not have to be the final word.

When Celtic reached the Champions League knockout play-off in 2024-25, they banked 17.70 coefficient points. Rangers, by going to the last 16 of the Europa League that same season, actually scored more – 19.750. The lesson is clear: the Europa League can still be fertile ground.

Celtic now drop into that competition. If they respond, if they go deep, they can still drag Scotland’s ranking back in the right direction.

For now, the live coefficient table has Scotland down to 19th, with no immediate danger of slipping further. The real risk lies in stagnation. Should Rangers, Hibernian and Motherwell fall at the final Conference League hurdle on Thursday, the climb back towards respectability becomes steeper again.

The short-term target is obvious: get back into the top 15, where the Premiership runners-up regain a Champions League route.

For Celtic, the question is harsher. After another qualifying implosion, another financial hit and another furious fanbase, do they finally build a squad capable of walking through these ties – or accept that, for now, Europe’s top table is slipping out of reach?