LASK’s Jungwirth Issues Champions League Warning After Perfect Start

LASK have begun their title defence like a team intent on keeping what they won. Two games, two wins, no goals conceded. On paper, it looks serene.

Lukas Jungwirth knows better.

The goalkeeper walked off after Sunday’s 2-0 victory over Austria Wien with another clean sheet and another three points in the bag, but his verdict cut through any early-season complacency. With a Champions League play-off against Celtic looming, he made it clear that what worked in the Bundesliga opener will not necessarily survive the step up in class.

The Austrian champions, who edged out Sturm Graz to lift the title last season, have carried that momentum into the new campaign. They opened with a win and backed it up by dispatching Austria Wien, a professional job in front of their own fans at Raiffeisen Arena.

Yet there was a spell in that match that nagged at their goalkeeper.

“Around the time of the offside goal, we relied too much on possession and weren't mentally prepared for Austria's counter-attacks,” Jungwirth said, speaking after the game. The scoreline flattered the control LASK thought they had. For a short, sharp period, Austria Wien exposed a soft underbelly that better sides will not ignore.

The warning was pointed, even if he never mentioned Celtic by name.

The Scottish champions await in the Champions League play-off, with the first leg at Celtic Park before the return in Linz. Martin O’Neill’s side arrive with extra firepower: Kasper Hogh and Camilo Duran have already been added to the Hoops’ frontline, with Haissem Hassan expected to join the attacking options. It is a very different proposition to a league opener at home.

Jungwirth’s concern was not just about defensive focus. He turned the spotlight on his own team’s cutting edge.

“We also need to be more clinical at the end; we might be punished for that against other opponents,” he admitted. LASK controlled long stretches against Austria Wien, but allowed chances to slip, the kind of wastefulness that can turn a European tie in a single moment.

The message landed in a dressing room that has every reason to feel good about itself. This is a champion squad, hardened by a title race and now setting the pace again at the top of the Austrian Bundesliga. Confidence is not in short supply.

Jungwirth is not trying to dampen that belief. He is trying to sharpen it.

“I think if you go home with a 2-0 win as the favourites, you can definitely be satisfied,” he added. Satisfaction, though, is not the same as contentment. Not when Celtic are next, not when the margin for error shrinks to almost nothing.

At Raiffeisen Arena, the fans unfurled a “Like the Phoenix Rising from the Ashes” choreography on opening day, a bold statement of where they see their club. Two wins into the new season, the symbolism still fits. The team looks strong, organised, and confident.

Now comes the real test of how high this phoenix can fly.