There are collapses, and then there are collapses. What Celtic managed in the Raiffeisen Arena on Tuesday evening belongs in a category of its own — a category filed alongside Kairat Almaty, alongside sleepless nights and furious fan forums, alongside all the moments that haunt a club long after the final whistle.

Four goals clear on aggregate after 23 minutes. The away end doing what away ends do, bouncing and singing about a party in the Champions League. By midnight Austrian time, Celtic were eliminated — beaten 5-4 on aggregate after extra time by LASK, a side that had looked utterly incapable of producing the kind of sustained, relentless football that eventually tore Brendan Rodgers' men apart at the seams.

The Moment It All Felt Settled

It was Yang Hyun-jun who set the tone in the 23rd minute, showing real composure out wide on the left before cutting inside and squaring for captain Callum McGregor. His shot took a deflection and nestled in the net, and the aggregate scoreline — 4-0 in Celtic's favour — felt about as safe as leads come in modern football. The Champions League group stage, or at least the league phase, felt less like an ambition and more like a formality.

LASK, though, had been passing up chances throughout. Warning signs, in retrospect. Moses Usor had already nodded off target when, on 32 minutes, he punished a gift of a pass from Benjamin Nygren to finish coolly and claw one back on the night. On commentary for BBC Radio Scotland, James McFadden called it a lovely finish — but also an absolute gift. Both assessments were entirely correct.

The Second Half Unravelling

The opening exchanges of the second half were quiet enough to allow a degree of false comfort. Then Robert Ljubicic was gifted time and space on the edge of the area, with Auston Trusty caught badly out of position. Trusty's defending drew a damning verdict from McFadden: unacceptable. Ljubicic's low finish made it 2-1 on the night, 2-4 on aggregate, and Celtic were suddenly rattled.

Thirteen minutes later, Samuel Adeniran — who would come to define Celtic's evening in the worst possible way — struck a first-time curler from 25 yards that arrowed into the corner. It was a sensational goal, the kind that lifts an entire stadium and drains the blood from a visiting side. From that point on, Celtic were pinned back and broken, playing the game almost entirely in their own half without the energy or the structure to threaten any kind of response.

LASK huffed, puffed, struck the crossbar and wasted a glut of chances before Florian Flecker — unmarked at a corner — headed in a 90th-minute leveller to force extra time. Celtic had been hanging on by their fingernails. Now they had 30 more minutes to endure.

Extra Time and Total Humiliation

Adeniran completed the rout in the 109th minute, capitalising on poor decision-making from Luke McCowan who was dispossessed on the edge of his own area. Celtic goalkeeper Viljami Sinisalo denied Adeniran a hat-trick from the penalty spot — a fine save, but ultimately meaningless. The damage was done. Five goals conceded from a 4-0 aggregate lead. The Champions League qualification gone. The reckoning, inevitable.

McFadden's post-match observation was blunt and accurate: Celtic looked exhausted. That exhaustion — physical, mental, tactical — was visible long before extra time arrived. A side that had built such a commanding position simply had no fuel left to defend it when LASK's intensity demanded a response.

For Celtic, this is now a second successive summer defined by a qualifying implosion at a stage they should comfortably navigate. Last season it was Kairat Almaty that served as the watershed moment; this season, it is LASK and a 5-4 aggregate defeat that will ask serious questions of the squad's depth, mentality, and preparation heading into a new domestic campaign. The away end went home quiet. The party was cancelled before it had really begun.

Frequently asked

What was the final aggregate score between Celtic and LASK?
LASK won 5-4 on aggregate after extra time, overturning a 4-0 deficit to knock Celtic out of Champions League qualification.
Who scored Celtic's goal in the LASK second leg?
Callum McGregor scored in the 23rd minute to give Celtic a 1-0 lead on the night and extend their aggregate advantage to 4-0.
What happens to Celtic now after their Champions League exit?
Celtic are eliminated from Champions League qualification at this stage. They may drop into another European competition depending on the qualifying round structure, but the Champions League proper is no longer an option.