Celtic face Austrian champions LASK Linz in the Champions League playoff first leg at Celtic Park, with a place in the group stage and an estimated £40million windfall on the line. Martin O'Neill's side enter the match in strong domestic form, having scored 10 goals in three wins this season, including a 4-0 victory over Dundee United on Saturday. LASK, defending their Austrian Bundesliga and OFB Cup double, have won all four of their competitive matches, scoring 16 goals and conceding just one.
Team News and Lineups
Celtic made three changes from the side that beat Dundee United. Yang starts on the left for Sebastian Tounekti, Kieran Tierney replaces Liam Scales, and Mika Baur makes his full debut in place of the suspended Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Oxlade-Chamberlain is serving a three-match European ban for a red card received while at Besiktas against Lugano in December 2023.
Celtic XI: Sinisalo, Donovan, Carter-Vickers, Trusty, Tierney, McGregor (c), Baur, Nygren, Yang, Duran, Hogh. Subs: Doohan, Scales, Balikwisha, McCowan, Tounekti, Osmand, Hassan, Kenny, Hatate, Murray, Forrest, Ralston.
LASK made two changes from their league win over Ried, with Joao Viktor Tornich and Krystof Danek replacing Alemao and Melayro Bogarde. LASK XI: Jungwirth, Mbuyamba, Tornich, Andrade, Molgaard-Jorgensen, Ljubicic, Danek, Horvath (c), Bello, Usor, Adeniran. Subs: Schutzenauer, Schillinger, Freckleton, Smakaj, Bogarde, Schopf, Verhaege, Dibango, Lang, Flecker.
O'Neill on the Challenge
Speaking to club media, O'Neill acknowledged the difficulty of the tie: "It is a big challenge, I must admit. I've seen a lot of them now, certainly over the last 48, 72 hours and - full concentration after the Dundee United game. [It's] an opportunity for us, but at the same time, absolutely they're a very fine side, no doubt at all about it. They're strong, they're aggressive, they're big and they can play and they've got pace as well."
On the importance of experience, he said: "Hopefully, that will play its part. I think experience is nearly essential as much as anything else, but even senior players can maybe play badly on the night and somebody comes up and surprises you at the end of it all, but it's a big night for all of us."
Regarding Baur's full debut, O'Neill added: "Well, what a game to be thrown into for his first game, but at least he's played pre-season as well, so he's not exactly match fit, he'll be there. He gives us energy as well too in the middle of the field. He's small, he's not a like-for-like replacement for Arne Engels but even so, I think that he'll add a bit of vitality to us."
Match Context and Referee
The two sides have never met in European competition before. Celtic are looking to avoid a repeat of last season's humiliating exit to Kazakh side Kairat Almaty at this stage. The Swiss officiating team is led by referee Sandro Scharer, who previously took charge of Celtic's 1-1 draw with Midtjylland in 2021, issuing two red cards in that match. The winner of this two-legged tie advances to the Champions League group stage.
