Celtic manager Martin O'Neill has taken full responsibility for the club's unexpected elimination from the Champions League qualifiers. The Scottish champions suffered a dramatic collapse in Austria, losing 5-4 on aggregate to LASK after holding a four-goal advantage.
"I'm responsible for this one, without a doubt," O'Neill stated after the match in the Raiffeisen Arena. He described the defeat as "majorly disappointing," particularly in the context of a qualifying game that Celtic was expected to win.
O'Neill drew comparisons to Celtic's UEFA Cup final loss in 2003, but ultimately deemed this qualifying exit more disappointing. "In the context of things, one was a final which it would have been terrific to win, this was a qualifying game which we should have been able to get through," he explained.
He acknowledged that the team is far from reaching its full potential. "We know that we are a million miles from the finished article. That's absolutely true. I think we thought that anyway," O'Neill commented, reflecting on the team's performance in the second half where the lead was overturned.
This exit marks a particularly dark night in the club's European history, following a similar disappointment last year when they were eliminated by Kairat Almaty on penalties at the same stage of the competition.