Celtic take on LASK Linz of Austria tomorrow night, in the first leg of a two legged tie that will determine who earns a place in the money laden Champions league group stages.
When it comes to facing Austrian clubs in European competition, Celtic’s record isn’t exactly the best.
The Hoops have been drawn against Austrian sides on 13 occasions, with the first time being back in 1977 when we were eliminated from the European cup by FC Wacker Innsbruck by an aggregate score of 3-1.
Seven years later we were drawn against Rapid Vienna, in what is now remembered as an ‘infamous’ clash.
What was a two legged Cup Winners Cup tie, turned into a three game tie, due to a ‘controversial’ incident in the second leg at Celtic Park.
Celtic thumped the Austrians 3-0 in Paradise to prevail 4-3 on aggregate, only for the tie to be replayed due to a fabricated on field incident.
Davie Hay’s side were ordered to play a replay at Manchester United’s Old Trafford stadium, and the Austrians won 1-0, and duly advance to the next round.
Rapid made it all the way to the final at Celtic’s expense but thankfully they were given the thrashing they deserved by Everton, much to the Celtic support’s delight.
13 years later Celtic would be drawn out of the hat against Tirol Innsbruck, and it would throw up one of the most dramatic European nights ever witnessed at Celtic Park.
Going into the second leg in Glasgow 2-1 down to the Austrians, Wim Jansens side won 6-3 on a topsy turvy night to prevail 7-5 on aggregate, and set up a mouthwatering clash with Liverpool.
12 years after that and now under the management of Tony Mowbray, Celtic were pitted against old foes Rapid Vienna once again in the newly revamped Europa League group stages.
The two fixtures ended in stalemates, with the Celtic Park clash ending 1-1, with the away tie in Vienna a rather entertaining game that ended 3-3, with Celtic battling back to claim a point after being 3-0 down.
The next decade seen us take on RB Salzburg on more than a few occasions in the same competition, but our record was poor against them, as we lost five times, and only picked up a solitary draw against the Austrian giants.
Last year we also faced Austrian opposition in Strum Graz, with Brendan Rodgers side winning 3-1 in the Europa League group stage clash at Paradise.
So our overall record when facing Austrian sides is not that impressive, hopefully we make that record look a b”better when the tie is over next Tuesday night.
Just an Ordinary Bhoy
