Durán Double Puts Celtic Within Touching Distance of Champions League Return
Celtic put five years of European heartbreak behind them with a 3-0 win over LASK in the first leg of their Champions League playoff at Celtic Park on 19 August 2026. A goal from Benjamin Nygren and two from Camilo Durán gave the Glasgow side their biggest stride toward the group stage in half a decade.
Nygren opened the scoring in the 26th minute. Durán doubled the lead twelve minutes later, then added his third goal for the club midway through the second half — Nygren turning provider with the assist. The pairing is already bearing fruit: Nygren has four goals and four assists in four appearances this season, per The Guardian.
The Champions League is European football's premier club competition. Celtic have not reached its group stage since 2021, having failed in five consecutive qualifying campaigns — playoff defeats to Kairat Almaty, AEK Athens, Cluj, Ferencváros and Midtjylland each closing the door at the final hurdle.
LASK, the visitors from Linz, Austria, did not go quietly. They had two goals disallowed for offside and fashioned chances throughout the match. The Austrian side had arrived in confident mood, having opened their domestic league season with a 3-0 win over GAK 1902 in which American forward Samuel Adeniran scored twice, as noted by Yahoo Sports. The aggregate score — the combined total across both legs — now leaves LASK needing to overturn a three-goal deficit at home.
Durán arrived from Qarabag this summer for around £4.5 million, signed to solve a striker problem that had plagued Celtic's previous European campaigns. Manager Martin O'Neill called the performance "exceptional" and described the fee as a bargain, according to The Guardian. Celtic's own website confirmed the two-goal haul in a post-match interview feature published the same evening.
The match also marked the Celtic Park debut of German midfielder Mika Baur, another summer arrival settling into O'Neill's rebuild. The squad has already turned over one signing from the window: Arne Engels departed for West Ham at the weekend before the LASK first leg.
What makes this result resonate for Celtic supporters is the weight of recent history. Five times the club stood at this stage; five times they fell. Each defeat carried its own particular sting — a late goal, a red card, a tie that slipped away on the away-goals rule. To win the first leg 3-0, with a new striker scoring twice and a new playmaker setting him up, is the closest Celtic have come to breathing different European air.
The job is not done. The second leg takes place the following Tuesday in Linz, with UEFA having confirmed the fixture date in early August, as reported by ESPN. LASK proved at Celtic Park that they can create chances. A three-goal cushion is commanding, but Celtic have learned the hard way that nothing is decided until the second whistle blows.
