Celtic will be in Linz later this evening to take on Austrian Champions LASK in the Champions League play off second leg, with Celtic holding a commanding 3-0 lead going into the game that will be worth upwards of £40 million to the overall winner of the tie…
What a difference a year makes as Celtic go into the second leg of a Champions League Playoff tie with that 3-0 advantage from the first leg which took place at Celtic Park last midweek.
Austrian Champions LASK couldn’t quite believe that they ended up on the back of a three goal deficit after playing their part in a keenly and evenly contested match under the lights at Paradise.
They can only hope to do to Celtic what the Hoops did to them by making the most of chances created on their own playing surface at the Raiffeisen Arena in Linz, later this evening.
Martin O’Neill has warned his players against complacency and imposed a social media ban on the entire squad, as he recognises the threat to Celtic’s chances of progressing if the team isn’t fully focussed on the tough job at hand against a very good side who score goals and are not used to losing.
Celtic Team News
Celtic expect to have Auston Trusty available despite the defender missing training on Monday with an upset stomach. Alistair Johnston has been ruled out until October with a hamstring injury while Jota is back training but not yet ready to feature after 16 months out with an ACL rupture, other than that Martin O’Neill will have a full strength squad to call upon.
If Trusty isn’t 100% Martin O’Neill has an easy fix in bringing Liam Scales into the team. The Irishman has missed out over the past few games following his two match suspension carried over from last season.
Despite a 3-0 lead in the bag, it will still take a professional performance to see out the ninety minutes in Linz, so expect to see a tight Celtic side especially in the first twenty minutes or so, as we certainly don’t want to concede an early goal that would give the home side a massive confidence boost.
Celtic will however look to attack, and exploit a side that needs to be on the front foot, so we should get our fair share of opportunities in front of goal as the game progresses.
Predicted Celtic Team
Martin O’Neill will set up with the 4-2-3-1 that worked so well last midweek and if Trusty makes it as expected will the Celtic manager go with the same starting XI…
Celtic Starting XI: Sinisalo; Donovan, Carter-Vickers, Trusty, Tierney; McGregor, Baur; Duran, Nygren, Yang; Hogh
Subs: Doohan; Scales, Balikwisha, Tounekti, Murray, Ralston, McCowan, Hatate, Hassan, Osmand, Kenny and Forrest.
Tonight’s Match Officials
2022 World Cup final referee Szymon Marciniak is the man in charge. The Polish official will be assisted by Tomasz Listkiewicz and Adam Kupsik. Dutchman Pol van Boekel is on VAR duties, alongside assistant Pawel Malec.
Kick-off Time
The Champions League Playoff second leg between LASK (0) and Celtic (3) takes place at Raiffeisen Arena in Linz this evening with the game kicking off at 9pm local time, that’s 8pm CPT (Celtic Park Time).
Where to Watch
LASK v Celtic will be live streamed on Amazon Prime. The game will be broadcast live on Amazon Prime Video. Non-subscribers can stream the match for free by signing up for a free 30-day trial. Coverage starts from 7.30pm with presenter Alex Aljoe joined by Stiliyan Petrov and Neil Lennon. Match commentary will come from Jon Champion and Kasper Schmeichel.
Like last week, Celtic Player will provide an audio only service to subscribers with a full playback to follow. This is what usually happens as a result of the UEFA broadcasting regulations.
Predicted Score
There are goals in both teams so can’t see it ending goalless, a result that we’d all be delighted with. Perhaps a 1-1 draw will be more likely. I’d even settle for a 2-1 defeat but it would be amazing of Celtic could win in Austria for the first time ever in a competitive match.
COYBIG
Please note that ahead of tonight’s match in Linz there will be a period of silence in memory of Celtic fan James McIntyre who sadly passed away during last week’s match at Celtic Park.
Ahead of tonight’s match in Linz there will be a period of silence in memory of Celtic fan James McIntyre who sadly passed away during last week’s match at Celtic Park pic.twitter.com/NYQtyIYEmz
— CELTIC FC SLO (@CelticFCSLO) August 25, 2026
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