O'Neill takes responsibility after Celtic's latest European capitulation
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- Celtic squandered a four-goal aggregate advantage over LASK, falling 5-4 on aggregate after extra time at the Raiffeisen Arena in Linz in a collapse the manager called among the darkest nights in the club's European history.
- Martin O'Neill owned the result post-match: "I'm responsible for this one... we should have been able to get through," adding that Champions League qualification is "major in every aspect — financially, for prestige" and that the transfer window must now be finished without that windfall.
- Celtic captain Callum McGregor told Amazon Prime: "We were passive all night. We looked scared to go and win the game... We have to suck it up. We apologise to our supporters because there's no way we should lose that game."
- Former Celtic manager Neil Lennon, on Amazon Prime, said LASK "battered Celtic tonight, physically and on the football side. It could have been more," and that Celtic looked "exhausted" and "fragile in duels."
- The exit comes a year after Celtic's penalty shootout loss to Kairat Almaty at the same play-off stage — a defeat that effectively ended Brendan Rodgers' second spell in charge and led to O'Neill's return.
- O'Neill had steadied Celtic by winning the league title and Scottish Cup last season following Rodgers' exit and the brief Wilfried Nancy interregnum, but said of this squad: "We are a million miles from the finished article."
- BBC Radio Scotland pundit Scott Brown, a former Celtic captain, praised LASK's forwards as "strong, solid and willing runners" and said the Austrian side "deserve to go through with that performance."
Why it matters: Missing Champions League qualification strips Celtic of the marquee windfall O'Neill said would help land signings this window, adding financial sting to a collapse from 4-0 up on aggregate. The exit — a year after the Kairat Almaty shootout loss that ended Rodgers' reign — keeps the spotlight on O'Neill, who conceded his squad remains "a million miles from the finished article."
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