Six attempts to qualify for the Champions League in the past eight years. And a sixth post-mortem for Celtic. Picking through the wreckage of a European campaign has become almost an August perennial when it comes to the Scottish champions.
But few of those failures have been quite so wretched as this one. Leading 3-0 from the first leg in Glasgow, Celtic took the lead in Austria. Three quarters through the two-legged tie, they still held a three-goal advantage.
But then came the collapse. Ultimately, it took until the 90th-minute of the second leg for LASK to level the tie 4-4 on aggregate, but it would be hard to say it wasn't coming after a second-half bombardment in Linz. The hosts' fifth goal - the winner - was inevitable.
Martin O'Neill's side had won all four competitive games to start the season, scoring 13 goals in the process. But now the questions are piling up. Celtic blow four-goal lead to LASK in Champions League collapse Celtic deficiencies laid bare on another night of Champions League pain O'Neill takes responsibility after Celtic's latest European capitulation Captain Callum McGregor said Celtic looked "scared" and were "passive" as LASK launched wave upon wave of attacks as the game went on in Linz.
Benjamin Nygren, Auston Trusty and Luke McCowan all made errors that led directly to concessions and Celtic simply did not compete in midfield. Martin O'Neill insisted he was responsible, but former Celtic captain Scott Brown believes the manager was just protecting his players. "I feel for Martin because he's taking full responsibility," Brown told BBC Scotland.
"I've been in Martin's situation. When you get humiliated in a game, you need to take that pressure off the players because in a week's time they've got another game." Celtic's defence at full-time consisted of third-choice right-back Anthony Ralston, Trusty - who did not train in the build-up because of illness - untested academy product Dane Murray, and Liam Scales out of position at left-back. Brown says Celtic's depth isn't of the level required to compete in Europe's premier club competition.
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