After falling behind 0-4

LASK vs. Celtic Glasgow – LIVE starting at 9 p.m.

Samuel Adeniran scored twice against Celtic(Bild: GEPA)

European Cup madness in Linz! LASK pulled off the seemingly impossible against Celtic Glasgow, overcoming a 0–3 deficit from the first leg, saving themselves with a 4–1 win in extra time—and then sealing the 5–1 final score. For the first time in the club’s history, the Linz team will play in the Champions League!

In front of 19,000 spectators at the sold-out Linz Stadium, Callum McGregor put the Scots ahead (21'). However, that wasn’t the end of the story. Moses Usor equalized after a mistake by the visitors (32'). Robert Ljubicic (48th minute) and Samuel Adeniran (58th minute) extended the lead to 3–1 after the break, but “super sub” Florian Flecker equalized the match at exactly 90 minutes. In extra time, Adeniran became the match-winner with his second goal (109th minute), capping off a historic comeback. A missed penalty by the U.S. striker (115th minute) would not come back to haunt them.

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Historic Comeback
Only Rapid has a similar comeback in its club history: in 1985, the Hütteldorf side eliminated Dynamo Dresden in the quarterfinals of the Cup Winners’ Cup with a 5–0 victory after trailing 0–3 in the first leg. The historic evening for the Linz team is sweetened by a Champions League entry fee of 18.62 million euros. Kühbauer and his team are now eagerly awaiting Thursday evening’s draw in Monaco. Celtic will continue their campaign in the Europa League.

(Bild: APA/EXPA/ REINHARD EISENBAUER)

Consistency for Both Teams, Better Start for Celtic
Both teams had the weekend off in preparation for their international matches and were thus able to focus entirely on the qualifying showdown. In any case, neither coach saw much reason to tinker with their starting lineups: Kühbauer made only one change, starting Melayro Bogarde in place of Krystof Danek. Celtic manager Martin O’Neill fielded the same starting lineup as in the first leg.

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The Scots didn’t play defensively but instead looked to make their mark on the offensive end from the start. Mika Baur narrowly missed Lukas Jungwirth’s goal after a pass from Yang Hyun-jun (5th minute), and a curling shot by Kasper Högh on the counterattack was saved by Jungwirth (14th minute). The Linz side made their presence felt through Sascha Horvath, whose corner kick, however, sailed past both friend and foe and just wide of the goal (19th minute). A few seconds later, a deflected long-range shot by Andres Andrade hit the post of goalie Viljami Sinisalo’s goal (19th minute).

Celtic captain McGregor fared better, scoring the visitors’ opening goal following a strong run by Yang. His crisp shot, however, was deflected by Andrade, making it unstoppable for Jungwirth. The LASK goalkeeper made a fine save against Högh shortly afterward (27th minute). After that, the Upper Austrians took control of the match—and benefited from a generous gift from the visitors. Benjamin Nygren handed the ball to Usor with a disastrous mispass, and Usor didn’t need to be asked twice, equalizing the score.

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LASK Launches an All-Out Attack After the Break
Kühbauer must have struck the right note at halftime, as his team now marched forward and played efficiently. Following an assist from Usor, Ljubicic fired a shot from about 20 meters out, and the ball flew low into the net for a 2–1 lead. The game had turned around, and LASK was “on fire.” Ten minutes later, Horvath set up Adeniran, who curled a spectacular shot into the corner to make it 3–1.

Celtic was on the ropes, while LASK needed just one more goal to force extra time. First, Andrade narrowly missed the target (64'), then Joao Tornich came within a hair’s breadth of scoring the fourth goal with a header off a corner kick (69'). A minute later, the LASK fans were already on the verge of celebrating another goal: Adeniran, assisted by Horvath, hit the underside of the crossbar; the ball bounced back into the field just before the goal line, where the Scottish defense was able to clear the danger.

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Adeniran Seals the Win in Overtime
O’Neill made substitutions to bring in fresh legs. It did nothing to change Linz’s dominance. And that dominance was finally rewarded: Substitute Flecker scored with a header (91'), after Tornich had forced Sinisalo into a brilliant save with a header of his own just moments earlier. The match went into extra time, where Usor missed the goal with a spectacular bicycle kick (94').

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Kühbauer then injected new energy with four substitutions, though goal-scorer Flecker also had to leave the field injured. Adeniran scored the fifth goal with a long-range shot, sparking collective jubilation among the Linz players (109'). The fact that he failed to convert a penalty kick six minutes later—awarded after a foul on substitute Danek—when Sinisalo saved it, would ultimately prove to be nothing more than a footnote without any consequences by the end of the evening.

(Bild: GEPA)

LASK – Celtic Glasgow 5–1 (4–1, 1–1) after extra time
Linz, Oberösterreich Arena, 19,080 spectators (sold out)
Referee: Marciniak (POL)
LASK finished the Champions League group stage with an aggregate score of 5–4; Celtic competed in the Europa League group stage.

Goals:
0:1 (21') McGregor
1–1 (32') Usor
2:1 (48') Ljubicic
3–1 (58') Adeniran
4–1 (91') Flecker
5–1 (109') Adeniran

LASK: Jungwirth – Mbuyamba, Tornich (99. Danek), Andrade – Jörgensen (86. Flecker/99. Dibango), Ljubicic (81. Schöpf), Bogarde, Horvath (99. Freckleton), Bello – Usor (101. Lang), Adeniran

Celtic: Sinisalo – Donovan (74. Murray), Carter-Vickers (91. Ralston), Trusty, Tierney (71. Scales) – McGregor, Baur (71. McCowan) – Duran, Nygren (63. Hatate), Yang (63. Tounekti) – Högh

Yellow cards: Kühbauer (coach), Usor, Tornich; McCowan, O’Neill (coach)

Note: Adeniran missed a penalty kick (115.)