NafisaMartin O’Neill has accepted full responsibility for Celtic’s astonishing Champions League collapse after the Hoops surrendered a three-goal aggregate lead and suffered one of the most painful European defeats in the club’s recent history.
Celtic travelled to Austria with a huge advantage after producing an impressive 3-0 victory in the first leg at Celtic Park.
Even after LASK pulled one back in the first half of the return fixture, the Scottish champions were still firmly in control of the tie.
But everything changed after the interval.
LASK scored again, momentum completely shifted towards the Austrian side and Celtic eventually found themselves fighting simply to survive. The hosts scored a late equaliser to force extra time before completing an extraordinary comeback with a fifth goal.
A 5-1 defeat on the night meant Celtic crashed out 5-4 on aggregate, turning what had looked like a routine progression into a devastating European exit.
O’Neill did not attempt to hide from what had happened.
The Celtic boss immediately accepted responsibility for the collapse and admitted his team should have been out of sight before LASK were given any hope of completing their comeback.
“We should have been out of sight by half-time,” O’Neill said.
“We scored a goal which was great, we missed two 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 very good goals at all. That’s my team and that’s my responsibility.”
The comments underline just how frustrating the defeat was for Celtic.
Despite taking the lead on the night and holding a commanding aggregate advantage, the Hoops failed to kill the tie when they had the opportunity.
Instead, missed chances and defensive errors allowed LASK to believe they could complete what initially appeared to be an impossible comeback.
Once the second goal arrived after half-time, the momentum became increasingly difficult for Celtic to control.
O’Neill admitted that the turning point came after the restart, when LASK’s pressure became increasingly difficult to withstand.
“Just after half-time they score, then obviously momentum goes in their direction and it’s hard to stem the point when they are chasing the game,” he said.
“We tried to hold out for ten minutes and then we seemed to have weathered the storm as if we were going to see it through, then they score with a couple of minutes to go and that takes it into extra time.
“So really, obviously disappointed, disappointed that we’ve conceded the goals in the manner which we did. And again, I just go back to it’s my team so I’m responsible for that.”
Those words will do little to ease the anger and disappointment among Celtic supporters, but O’Neill’s willingness to take responsibility is significant.
The Celtic captain Callum McGregor had already delivered a brutally honest assessment after the final whistle, admitting that the players were too passive and had played with fear despite their huge aggregate advantage.
O’Neill’s comments now add another layer to the fallout, with the manager accepting that the buck ultimately stops with him.
There will inevitably be questions about Celtic’s summer recruitment, the squad’s depth and the team’s mentality in Europe after another damaging Champions League exit.
However, O’Neill did not attempt to hide behind any of those factors.
Instead, he focused on the way Celtic conceded and the missed opportunities that allowed LASK to remain alive in the tie.
For Celtic, the defeat is made even more painful by the fact that the side had looked to be cruising into the next round.
A three-goal first-leg advantage should have provided a huge cushion, yet Celtic ultimately conceded five times in Austria.
The manner of the collapse means the result is likely to be discussed for a long time around Parkhead.
O’Neill was also asked whether the defeat ranks among the worst European results Celtic have experienced during his time at the club.
His response was revealing.
“I would say absolutely, yes,” he added when asked if it was one of the club’s worst European results.
“I put it up there before with the disappointment of losing the UEFA Cup final in 2003, but tonight is so, so disappointing.”
That comparison says everything about the magnitude of the night.
The 2003 UEFA Cup final defeat to Porto remains one of the most painful memories of O’Neill’s previous Celtic tenure, when the Hoops came agonisingly close to lifting a major European trophy.
Now, more than two decades later, the LASK collapse has joined it among his most disappointing nights at the club.
Celtic will now have to pick themselves up quickly.
The immediate focus turns back towards domestic football, but the psychological damage from surrendering such a commanding European advantage cannot simply be ignored.
O’Neill has accepted responsibility.
McGregor has accepted responsibility on behalf of the players.
Now Celtic must show whether they can turn the embarrassment in Austria into a response on the pitch.
Because after throwing away a 3-0 lead in one of the most dramatic European collapses imaginable, simply talking about what went wrong will not be enough.
Nafisa
