Lask Linz vs Celtic

Celtic host Austrian champions LASK Linz at Celtic Park on Wednesday night in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League play-off. After five straight failures in Champions League qualifying, the Scottish champions are desperate to return to the group stage, while LASK arrive in Glasgow with a perfect domestic record and a squad brimming with confidence.

Team News and Injury Latest

Martin O’Neill faces a reshuffled midfield after the club confirmed that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is suspended for both legs. The former England international is serving a carryover three-match UEFA ban from a red card received for Beşiktaş in December 2023. £7m summer signing Mika Baur is expected to make his home debut alongside captain Callum McGregor.

Right-back Alistair Johnston is ruled out with a hamstring injury, with teenager Colby Donovan likely to get the nod ahead of Anthony Ralston after impressing in the 4-0 win at Dundee United. Sebastian Tounekti, who scored and assisted in that cup victory, should continue on the left of a front three featuring Camilo Durán and hat-trick hero Kasper Høgh.

For LASK, head coach Dietmar Kuhbauer has concerns over a trio of players who went off injured in Friday’s 4-1 derby win against SV Ried. Leading scorer Samuel Adeniran, who has five goals in four games this season, was withdrawn as a precaution, but midfielder Sacha Horvath and wing-back Kasper Jørgensen are greater doubts after receiving on-pitch treatment. Ramiz Harakaté is a long-term absentee with a cruciate ligament tear.

LASK Linz Form Guide

LASK ended a 61-year wait to win the Austrian Bundesliga title and have carried that momentum into the new season. They have won their opening three league matches, scoring nine goals and conceding just once, and are unbeaten since March 22. That run includes a commanding 7-0 Austria Cup victory, meaning Kuhbauer’s side have won their last seven competitive matches.

Former St Mirren defender Miguel Freckleton is a familiar face in the squad, and LASK’s last meeting with Scottish opposition saw them beat St Johnstone 3-1 on aggregate in Conference League qualifying back in 2021.

Celtic’s Champions League Hurdle

Celtic have failed to progress through Champions League qualifying in five consecutive attempts. Their last play-off success came in 2017-18, an 8-4 aggregate win against Astana. Last season’s European campaign ended with a Europa League play-off defeat to FCSB and a disappointing Conference League league phase that brought just three draws from six matches.

O’Neill has admitted the squad is unlikely to be strengthened before the UEFA registration deadline, meaning the group that beat Dundee, Kilmarnock, and Dundee United domestically must step up.

Key Battle: Camilo Durán vs Xavier Mbuyamba

Camilo Durán has started the season brightly, already among the goals domestically after finding the net regularly in Europe last term. He will be looking to pull onto LASK’s wider centre-back, with Xavier Mbuyamba expected to anchor the visitors’ back three alongside Andrés Andrade and João Alemão.

At the other end, Adeniran and last season’s top scorer Moses Usor will test a Celtic defence that has been reinforced by Cameron Carter-Vickers’ return from a long-term ACL absence.

The return leg takes place at the Raiffeisen Arena in Linz on 25 August, with the winner over two legs advancing to the Champions League league phase — and the significant financial rewards that accompany it.