Celtic's Painful Champions League Collapse: O'Neill Reflects

Martin O’Neill has called Celtic’s astonishing Champions League collapse in Austria one of the most painful nights of his long reign at the club.

Celtic were four goals clear on aggregate against Lask on Tuesday, seemingly strolling into the league phase. A 3-0 first-leg cushion had silenced most doubts. When Callum McGregor struck in the 21st minute in Linz, it felt like the job was done.

It wasn’t. It turned into a nightmare.

From 4-0 up on aggregate, Celtic unravelled and lost 5-1 on the night after extra time, crashing out in scarcely believable fashion and tumbling into the Europa League instead. The exit strips the club of at least £20m in Champions League revenue and leaves a deep scar on a manager who has seen almost everything.

“I would say absolutely, yes,” O’Neill, 74, said when asked if this was among his worst evenings in charge. “I’d put it down before the disappointment of losing the Uefa Cup final in 2003, but it’s so, so disappointing.”

For a while, it looked like a procession. Celtic’s early goal seemed to drain the life from Lask and open the door to a routine night. But the missed chances haunted them.

“We should have been out of sight by half-time,” O’Neill admitted. “We scored a goal, which was great, we missed two great, great opportunities. And then we give them a lifeline just before half-time and then one just after it. And they come roaring back.”

The momentum flipped. Lask sensed panic, Celtic lost their grip, and the goals they conceded cut especially deep.

“Obviously we conceded, from our viewpoint, not good goals at all,” O’Neill said. “But that’s my team and that’s my responsibility.”

The questions that followed were inevitable. Was this squad strong enough? Had Celtic gone into a pivotal qualifier underpowered?

“These are tough games,” O’Neill replied. “And it might only be a Champions League qualifying game, but it felt like a Champions League game. I thought they were a fine side. But that doesn’t matter. We should have been able to have seen it through. And we didn’t do. Talking about the squad, that’s for another day.”

If the manager was blunt, his captain was brutal.

McGregor did not try to sugarcoat what had unfolded. “We got what we deserved,” he told Amazon Prime. “I thought we were so passive. All night. We actually looked scared to go and win the game, and when you are 3-0 up it’s psychological.”

He did not spare the first leg either. Celtic had looked in control on the scoreboard, but not in the performance.

“To be honest I didn’t think we were that good in the first leg, either,” he said. “We scored at good times and kind of got away with it. You go 3-0 and you think you’ve got a real chance but when you play like that you can’t have any excuse whatsoever.”

There was no attempt to shift blame, no talk of bad luck. Only accountability.

“We have to suck it up, apologise to the supporters and the club because there is no way that we should lose that game … Now you’ll see what kind of characters are in there.”

The Champions League dream is gone. The financial hit is real. The only question now is how Celtic respond to a collapse that will be remembered for years.