LASK's Title Defense Starts Strong but Needs Improvement
LASK’s title defence is up and running. Six points from six, two wins from two, another clean sheet on the board after a 2-0 victory over Austria Wien. On paper, it looks routine.
Lukas Jungwirth knows it wasn’t.
The goalkeeper walked away from Raiffeisen Arena with the shutout he craves, but also with a warning for the dressing room as the Austrian champions pivot from domestic business to a season-defining Champions League play-off against Celtic.
Winning – but not yet convincing
LASK have started as a champion should. They finished ahead of Sturm Graz last season to reclaim supremacy in Austria, and they’ve wasted no time underlining their intent to keep the crown. Austria Wien arrived in Linz on Sunday and left empty-handed, undone by a more clinical and confident side.
Yet, inside the home camp, there was no sense of self-congratulation.
Around a disallowed offside goal, the game briefly tilted in a direction that irritated Jungwirth. LASK began to lean on sterile possession, losing their edge without the ball and leaving themselves open to the very thing Austria Wien wanted: space to counter.
“Around the time of the offside goal, we relied too much on possession and weren't mentally prepared for Austria's counter-attacks,” Jungwirth admitted, speaking after the match. It was a blunt assessment from a player who had just watched his side bank another three points.
The scoreline said control. The goalkeeper’s verdict hinted at cracks.
Celtic looming on the horizon
Those cracks matter now because Celtic are next.
The Champions League play-off will drag LASK out of their domestic comfort zone and into a tie against a club whose entire summer has been geared towards sharpening their attack. Martin O’Neill has already brought in Kasper Hogh and Camilo Duran, with Haissem Hassan set to add yet more thrust to the forward line.
This is not the kind of front three you gift counter-attacking lanes to. Celtic Park in a first leg is unforgiving at the best of times; offer a side with fresh pace and power the same openings Austria Wien enjoyed, and the punishment will be swift.
Jungwirth didn’t name Celtic, but his message carried straight across the border.
“We also need to be more clinical at the end; we might be punished for that against other opponents,” he said. The subtext was obvious. Waste chances against mid-table Bundesliga sides and you get away with it. Waste them in Glasgow and you risk chasing the tie before it has even reached Austria.
Confidence with a hard edge
This is not a nervous champion talking. LASK’s belief is built on last season’s title run, on finishing ahead of Sturm Graz, on the feeling that they belong at the top of the Austrian game. The mood inside the club is not fragile; it’s demanding.
Jungwirth captured that balance neatly.
“I think if you go home with a 2-0 win as the favourites, you can definitely be satisfied,” he said. The satisfaction comes from the scoreline. The edge in his tone comes from what he saw in the performance.
That edge might be exactly what LASK need now. The domestic start has given them a platform: two wins, no slip-ups, the sense that the machine is functioning even if it’s not yet purring. The Champions League play-off will reveal how far that machine can be pushed.
They travel to Celtic Park knowing they cannot drift into spells of complacent possession, cannot switch off to the counter, cannot pass up clear chances and expect to escape. Jungwirth has seen enough football to understand what happens to teams that carry those habits into Europe.
LASK have the title, the momentum and the warning from their own goalkeeper ringing in their ears. The question now is simple: will they listen before the lights go up in Glasgow?
