Celtic to face LASK in UEFA Champions League Play-Off
Celtic drawn to face LASK in a high-stakes Champions League play-off, with new signings Duran and Høgh spearheading the push for a place in the league phase with millions on the line.
Celtic have been drawn against Austrian champions LASK in the high-stakes UEFA Champions League play-off tie that will decide their place in the competition’s league phase and access to a multi-million-pound financial windfall.
LASK, the 2025/26 Austrian Bundesliga champions, are a well-drilled, high-intensity side and regular European participants. For Celtic, they’ll be facing a technically strong, tactically disciplined side that is capable of punishing any sloppiness over two legs from Martin O’Neill’s side.
The draw keeps Celtic in the seeded section of the play-off round, with the first leg at Celtic Park on 18/19 August and the return in Austria on 25/26 August.
The financial imperative
Qualifying for the league phase is now a transformative moment for Celtic’s finances. Under UEFA’s current model, each of the 36 clubs that reaches the league phase receives a guaranteed €18.62m (roughly £15.7–£16m) simply for taking part, split into a large down-payment and a smaller balance.
On top of that, every league-phase win is worth €2.1m and every draw €750,000, with further ranking bonuses and knockout-stage payments that can push total earnings well beyond €40m for clubs that progress.
The Almaty hangover
This context makes last season’s failure at the same stage all the more painful. In August 2025, Celtic were knocked out by Kazakhstan’s Kairat Almaty on penalties after a gruelling 3,500-mile trip, failing to score over 210 minutes and missing three spot-kicks in the shootout.
Then-manager Brendan Rodgers described the demotion to the Europa League as a “huge blow”, while the club had effectively waved goodbye to an estimated £20m+ in potential income by failing to reach the league phase.
This time, Celtic once again enter as Scottish champions under Martin O’Neill, with the club determined to avoid repeating that costly financial and sporting setback.
Celtic’s summer recruitment this season has been shaped somewhat by last season’s experience, with the double signing of forward Camilo Duran and striker Kasper Høgh adding genuine league-phase know-how to the squad. Despite serious questions over recruitment in other areas of the team.
Duran arrived after a standout 2025/26 Champions League campaign with Qarabag, where he made 10 appearances and scored 5 goals, as Qarabag progressed through qualifying and the league phase before being knocked out in the league-phase play-offs by Newcastle United, losing 9-3 on aggregate.
With Celtic’s record signing Kasper Høgh comes off an equally impressive European season with Bodo/Glimt, scoring 5 goals in 12 Champions League games as the Norwegian side reached the last 16. Bodo/Glimt’s run ended against Sporting Lisbon, who eliminated them 6-3 on aggregate, but Høgh’s contribution underlined his big-game pedigree.
For Celtic, the addition of two forwards who have already navigated the pressure of league-phase football and knockout ties brings a level of experience that was missing during last season’s Almaty debacle.
Winners of the tie will join Europe’s elite 36-team Champions League league phase; while the losing side drop into the Europa League.