Celtic's Champions League Exit Highlights Squad Gaps
Callum McGregor did not bother dressing it up. Celtic’s captain walked away from Linz knowing a 4-0 first-leg lead had evaporated into a Champions League exit – and that the squad, as it stands, is not yet ready for this level.
Celtic have already thrown close to £30million at the summer market, bringing in Kasper Hogh, Camilo Duran, Haissem Hassan and Mika Baur. On paper, it looks like a serious outlay. On the pitch, in the closing stages against LASK, the gaps were impossible to ignore.
Makeshift finish exposes Celtic’s soft spots
By the end, Martin O’Neill was patching things together. Liam Scales, who has been used centrally, was shunted out to left-back. Dane Murray and Anthony Ralston were drafted into a stretched defence. Luke McCowan came on to bolster a tiring midfield. Sebastian Tounekti was asked to finish the tie on the left flank.
It looked more like a pre-season experiment than the climax of a Champions League qualifier. LASK smelled that uncertainty. Celtic felt it.
With eight days left before the window shuts, McGregor knows this cannot be the final version of the squad.
“I think we signed well,” he told BBC Sport Scotland when asked if Celtic had done enough business before the tie. “Then when you look at the team that finished the game – Scalesy playing at left-back, etc – then there’s still little bits we still need to move forward.”
The message was blunt, but not a dig at those thrown into the fire.
“That’s not me pinning the blame on anyone else because this is a tie we go 4-0 up in, so by no means is this me saying we need a left-back. That’s not the case.
“But then, every squad wants to be as strong as it possibly can be, and have cover and good players in every position so we’re always pushing each other.”
Eight days, big decisions
McGregor’s words cut to the heart of Celtic’s dilemma. The club have invested, but the bench in Linz told its own story: too many positions covered by necessity, not by design.
O’Neill and the recruitment team now stare at a shrinking window and a brutal reminder of what European nights demand. The spine has quality, the new signings bring promise, yet the depth chart still sags when injuries, fatigue and pressure collide.
Celtic have time to act. Not much, but enough to change the feel of a season that has already absorbed a heavy blow. The question is simple: will this exit be a warning they heed, or the moment they look back on as the one that told them they were still short?
