LASK boss Didi Kühbauer has ramped up the pressure on Celtic, claiming the Scottish side will be favourites for the Champions League qualifying playoff tie between the two sides.
Celtic welcome Austrian champions LASK to Paradise for the first leg on Wednesday night, and the second leg, in Austria, will follow on Tuesday.
On paper, the Scottish champions are stronger than their Austrian counterparts, with Transfermarkt placing the Celtic squad value at around €116million, compared to a LASK squad value of just over €43million.
And LASK boss Kühbauer has highlighted the fact that his side are the underdogs in his pre-match press conference.
LASK boss ramps up the pressure on Celtic
“We believe in ourselves. Celtic have a little bit more pressure because everybody knows Celtic,” Kuhbauer said in his pre-match press conference, as reported by TCW.
“We are a small club but still a good club. But for Celtic, it’s more pressure than us. But I don’t go in my meetings and tell the guys they have more pressure. We have to believe in ourselves.
“We have 90 minutes and we have to play at highest level. The quality from Celtic is better than in Austria. Every guy has to be focused for this game. We don’t care if they have more pressure.
“I know everything about Celtic. Celtic is a club with tradition from many years ago. We know their squad, we know every player. We have a very strong team but anything can happen.
“If we play a good game tomorrow, and that’s our task, that we have in our stadium to qualify for the Champions League.”
Both sides have won their first three games of the season coming into this game to add extra intrigue. Celtic will be feeling confident after a strong start, but the loss of Arne Engels to a transfer and the absence of Alistair Johnston through injury won't help their cause.
The Bhoys also exited at this stage last season, so there may be a mental block of sorts to overcome. The tie could come down to who turns up at home, with European ties usually offering a significant home advantage.
Martin O'Neill will be well aware that his side need to make a statement in the home leg on Wednesday night. Heading to Austria still behind, level or perhaps even with a one-goal lead is likely to have Hoops folk feeling nervous going into that second leg.
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