Celtic threw away a four-goal aggregate lead in astonishing fashion as Samuel Adeniran's extra-time winner sealed a 5-4 Champions League play-off victory for LASK at the Raiffeisen Arena.

Trailing 3-0 from the first leg in Glasgow, the Austrian side were staring at elimination after Callum McGregor fired Celtic into a 21st-minute lead to open up a four-goal cushion in the tie. But a stunning second-half collapse, capped by Adeniran's decisive strike, condemned Celtic to a second consecutive failure to reach the Champions League proper.

A night to forget for Celtic

LASK started brightly but fell behind to McGregor's strike, which deflected off Alemao and bounced over Lukas Jungwirth's dive. Yet the hosts responded emphatically before half-time when Benjamin Nygren's blind pass back to goalkeeper Viljami Sinisalo was ruthlessly punished by Moses Usor, who rolled the ball into the net on 32 minutes.

Three minutes after the restart, Robert Ljubicic was allowed time and space on the edge of the box to pick out the bottom-right corner and haul LASK level on the night. Adeniran then brought the hosts to within one on aggregate when he curled a sensational effort past Sinisalo from 25 yards out just before the hour.

LASK's defence was finally breached late in the day when Krystof Danek's header was saved, with substitute Florian Flecker on hand to tuck in the rebound — the goal surviving a VAR review for offside in the 90th minute to send the tie to extra time.

And LASK completed the remarkable turnaround in the second period of extra time when Adeniran's low drive nestled into the bottom-left corner. He could have had a hat-trick when Danek was brought down in the box by Reo Hatate, but his spot-kick was saved by Sinisalo, though the hosts held on for a famous victory.

'We got what we deserved'

Celtic captain Callum McGregor, who scored his side's only goal on the night, delivered a blunt assessment to Amazon Prime after the match.

"We got what we deserved. We were passive all night. We looked scared to go and win the game. I didn't think we were that good in the first leg either. We scored at good times and got away with it. We have to suck it up. We apologise to our supporters and the club because there's no way we should lose that game."

Manager Martin O'Neill, who took responsibility for the defeat, added: "They're a good side, but that's really disappointing. I'm responsible for the team, I'm the manager of the side. We know we're a million miles from the finished article, but, going into the game 3-0 up and after scoring, we should have been out of sight. Momentum swings in a game and we weren't able to stem it. It's a massive disappointment."

Adeniran proved the difference throughout, registering more shots (10) and touches in the opposition box (11) than any other player, while Sascha Horvath impressed with team-high tallies for chances created (six) and passes in the final third (39). LASK were worthy winners, finishing with an expected goals (xG) total of 4.91 from their 40 shots, compared to Celtic's 0.42 from eight attempts.

No Scottish clubs in the group stage

There will be no Scottish clubs in the Champions League group stage proper for the second year in succession. Celtic played out a turgid two-legged affair with Kairat Almaty 12 months ago and were eliminated on penalties, and this time even a three-goal advantage proved insufficient, with another year of Europa League football awaiting them.

The setback was all the more painful given Celtic's mid-season revival. After a turbulent 2025-26 campaign in which Brendan Rodgers resigned as head coach in October and successor Wilfried Nancy was sacked after only eight games, O'Neill steadied the ship, winning the Scottish Premiership and Scottish Cup with a final-day surge to overhaul Hearts for a 14th league title in 15 seasons.

LASK will be joined in the Champions League proper by Sabah, who needed extra time to seal a 6-4 aggregate win over Hapoel Be'er Sheva, while Bodo/Glimt made it through with a 3-0 win over 10-man NEC in the second leg, confirming a 6-1 triumph on aggregate.