UEFA Champions League REVIEW 25 Aug 2026: LASK Stun Celtic After Extra Time, Sabah and Bodø/Glimt Also Through

LASK produced the night's biggest shock in the Champions League play-off round, beating Celtic 5-1 after extra time in Linz to overturn a 3-0 first-leg deficit and go through 5-4 on aggregate. Callum McGregor put Celtic ahead on 21 minutes, but Moses Usor equalised on 32, and further goals from R. Ljubicic (48') and S. Adeniran (58') turned the tie on its head before Celtic had time to regroup. F. Flecker made it four for LASK with a 90th-minute goal to force extra time, and Adeniran struck again in the 109th minute for his second of the night, though he then missed a penalty in the 115th minute with the score already at 5-1. Celtic, who had won the first leg 3-0 at Celtic Park through Benjamin Nygren and a Camilo Durán double, were architects of their own downfall: LASK's win completes a first-ever qualification for the Champions League league phase for the Austrian champions. Before kick-off LASK head coach Dietmar Kühbauer had promised his side would "take risks" and "fight to the very end", and that is exactly how it played out.

Sabah Baku matched that drama in Baku, beating Hapoel Be'er Sheva 5-2 after extra time to complete a 6-4 aggregate win having lost the first leg 2-1 in Bucharest. Igor Zlatanović put Hapoel ahead on 10 minutes, but C. Nwachukwu levelled for Sabah on 38. G. Mizrahi restored Hapoel's lead early in the second half before U. Rakhmonaliyev equalised again on 74 minutes and T. Mutallimov put Sabah in front for the first time on 90. The tie was settled in extra time, where O. Mbina and Joy-Lance Mickels added further goals for Sabah either side of two Hapoel red cards, D. T. Diop dismissed on 100 minutes and E. Peretz following him in the 117th. Azerbaijani outlet Azernews described it as "a sensational 5-2 victory" for the club. The result sends Sabah, founded as recently as 2017, into the Champions League league phase for the first time in their history.

Bodø/Glimt completed the set of comebacks-turned-cruises with a 3-0 win over NEC at Aspmyra, taking the tie 6-1 on aggregate after winning the first leg 3-1 in Nijmegen. NEC's night was undone inside three minutes when goalkeeper Gonzalo Crettaz was sent off, and Bodø/Glimt made the numerical advantage count before the break, F. Bjorkan and S. Auklend both scoring in the 45th minute, before an own goal from D. Fonville completed the scoring on 73 minutes. The win takes Bodø/Glimt into the Champions League league phase for a second successive season, while NEC, who had been chasing a first-ever appearance in the competition, drop into the Europa League league phase instead.