Celtic's Champions League Collapse: A Failure of Desire and Leadership
Celtic’s Champions League collapse in Austria has been branded a failure of desire, leadership and depth by some of the club’s most decorated former players, after Martin O’Neill’s side somehow let a four-goal aggregate lead disintegrate in a 5-1 defeat to LASK.
From cruise control to crisis in 120 chaotic minutes – and the price is a drop into the Europa League.
Petrov: “Those players were hiding”
Stiliyan Petrov has lived the pressure of O’Neill’s Celtic and Aston Villa dressing rooms. He did not sugar-coat what he saw.
“You have to stand up and be counted, show character, be able to deal with the pressure,” he told Amazon Prime. “Those players were hiding.”
Petrov’s criticism went straight to the heart of Celtic’s supposed strengths – composure on the ball, control of tempo, authority in midfield.
“When they had to take responsibility with the ball, they didn’t take it. They were losing the ball very easily. LASK were better in second balls, more aggressive. They wanted it more.
“Celtic try to dominate games and be in control. But there was nothing there. They couldn’t take the sting out the game, they couldn’t slow the game down.
“Sometimes you need big players to do that. You need players to control that, control the team. You have to stand up, be brave and be strong.
“You have to run more, you have to close people down, you have to make decisions on the pitch, important decisions and important moments that make the difference. Those decisions were not there.”
For Petrov, this was not a tactical blip. It was a character test failed in real time.
Lennon questions physical and mental strength
Neil Lennon has seen Celtic’s European highs and lows from almost every angle – player, captain, manager. From the Dunfermline technical area, he watched this one unravel and saw a different kind of problem.
“Physically they weren’t up to it, running power they weren’t up to it,” he said. “LASK were the better team and they wanted it more, and that’s not something you can say about a Martin O’Neill team very often.”
Then came the detail that will alarm supporters and sports scientists alike.
“Second half I saw three or four players go down with cramp. It’s only 65-70 minutes into the game. That’s a worry for me.
“It could be a physical thing, it could be a psychological thing. For me it’s a sign of not being strong. They looked exhausted at times.”
A Champions League play-off, a four-goal cushion, and yet Celtic’s legs – and nerve – appeared to go long before the final whistle.
Brown turns fire on Celtic’s bench
When the game stretched and the tie began to slip, O’Neill turned to his bench. Liam Scales, Anthony Ralston, Dane Murray, Luke McCowan, Reo Hatate and Sebastian Tounekti were all thrown into the fray across the 120 minutes.
For another former captain, Scott Brown, that only exposed a deeper issue.
“I don’t think the subs made any impact on the game,” he told BBC Radio Scotland. “You want something from them – running power, a bit of calmness on the ball – and we didn’t get that.
“They are bringing players in that are actually in the starting 11 but it shows you, on that bench, they need better quality players to come on.”
The message was blunt: when the tie demanded game-changers, Celtic’s squad looked thin, short on both quality and personality.
Schmeichel warns of “huge ramifications”
Kasper Schmeichel knows the sting of this stage. He was in goal for last season’s play-off defeat and understands what slipping out of the Champions League costs a club.
“This is going to have huge ramifications,” the former Celtic goalkeeper said on Amazon Prime. “The Champions League is unique and the Europa League doesn’t have the same prestige. It impacts players’ lives and particularly the players that maybe we were looking to sign, that could have an impact on it.
“I know it’s going to be a really, really hard reaction towards the players, towards the management.
“It’s going to be a monumental task for them to motivate themselves and to get the fans back on side. Because you saw at the end, it wasn’t pleasant scenes. And we saw what happened last season, it’s not pleasant. And it’s not pleasant to be a player in that environment either.”
The financial hit is obvious. The damage to Celtic’s pulling power in the market, and to the dressing room’s belief, may cut just as deep.
O’Neill: “That’s my team and that’s my responsibility”
For Martin O’Neill, a manager with more than 300 games in charge of Celtic, this did not feel like just another bad night. It cut into the club’s European story under his watch.
Asked if the collapse from 4-0 up was among his most painful evenings, the 74-year-old did not hesitate.
“I would say absolutely, yes,” he said. “I’d put it down before the disappointment of losing the Uefa Cup final in 2003, but it’s so, so disappointing.
“We should have been out of sight by half-time. 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.
“And obviously we conceded, from our viewpoint, not good goals at all. But that’s my team and that’s my responsibility.”
He bristled slightly at talk of the squad’s overall strength, parking that debate for another day.
“These are tough games. 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.”
The sense was clear: whatever the structural issues, O’Neill was not ducking ownership of the collapse on the night.
McGregor: “We got what we deserved”
Inside the dressing room, there was no attempt to dress this up as bad luck. Callum McGregor, the captain, stripped it back to attitude and performance.
“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.
“To be honest I didn’t think we were that good in the first leg either. 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.
“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.”
That last line hangs over Celtic’s season now. The Champions League door has slammed shut. The Europa League awaits, along with the fallout.
What kind of characters are in there? The next few months will answer McGregor’s question.
