Sturm Graz and Freckleton a LASK warning for Celtic

Of the sides involved at the start of Champions League qualifying, Celtic's play-off opponents, LASK, are ranked slightly below Omonia Nicosia and just above Shamrock Rovers. But that is largely down to the Linz club's relatively long absence from Europe's top table. Dietmar Kuhbauer's side ended a 61-year wait to win the Austrian Bundesliga for just the second time last season. And, like Celtic, they won their domestic league after coming from behind after the league split. Having finished the regular season in third, one point behind Sturm Graz, they would finish top by two points, with Red Bull Salzburg collapsing in Rangers style into a distant third. Sturm's 6-0 aggregate win over Hearts in the previous round suggests the quality Celtic will face, first at home on 18 and 19 August then in Austria the following week. O'Neill will be cursing his luck considering could have been drawn against Viking Stavanger, Celje, Ararat-Armenia, Kairat Almaty, Levski Sofia, AGF Aarhus, or Sabah instead. LASK have a higher coefficient than all but Celje, but the Austrian league is ranked much higher than Slovenia's, so it is probably the toughest draw Celtic could have been given. They last competed in European competition two seasons ago, losing to FCSB of Romania in the Europa League play-off round before finishing a lowly 35th in the Conference League after three draws and three defeats, including a 7-0 thrashing away to Fiorentina. They were also thumped 7-2 on aggregate by Dundee United in the Uefa Cup second round in 1984, drew 2-2 with Partick Thistle in the Intertoto Cup group stage in 1995 but beat St Johnstone 3-1 on aggregate in the Conference League play-off round in 2021. A familiar face in the current squad is Miguel Freckleton, who moved to Austria from St Mirren this summer having helped defeat Celtic in the Premier Sports Cup final, while fellow defender Andres Andrade and midfielder Alessandro Schopf are experienced internationals with Panama and Austria respectively.