Well that was a perfect European night for Celtic, which is not something one can say very often. When the Hoops were drawn against LASK in the Champions League play-off round, many made it a 50-50 tie. Instead, despite a couple of early scares, Martin O'Neill's side crushed die Schwarz-Weißen 3-0 in Glasgow on Wednesday night.
All three goals were absolute screamers, with Benjamin Nygren breaking the deadlock, before Camilo Durán announced himself to the Parkhead faithful with two wonder strikes of his own.
Thus, ahead of next Tuesday night's second leg at Raiffeisen Arena, Football Meets Data believe that the Celts have a 96% chance of reaching the league phase. So, let's test that theory by looking back at previous times the Scottish champions have won the first leg of a European tie by three or more goals.
Celtic European ties when winning the first leg by 3+ goals
- 2019 Champions League qualifier: Celtic 5-0 Nõmme Kalju - won 7-0 on aggregate.
- 2018 Champions League qualifier: Alashkert 0-3 Celtic - won 6-0 on aggregate.
- 2017 Champions League play-off: Celtic 5-0 Astana - won 8-4 on aggregate.
- 2016 Champions League play-off: Celtic 5-2 Hapoel Be'er Sheva - won 5-4 on aggregate.
- 2013 Champions League qualifier: Cliftonville 0-3 Celtic - won 5-0 on aggregate.
- 2004 UEFA Cup third round: Celtic 3-0 FK Teplice - won 3-1 on aggregate.
- 2003 Champions League qualifier: MTK Budapest 0-4 Celtic - won 5-0 on aggregate.
- 2003 Champions League qualifier: FBK Kaunas 0-4 Celtic - won 5-0 on aggregate.
- 2002 UEFA Cup first round: Celtic 8-1 Sūduva Marijampolė - won 10-1 on aggregate.
- 2000 UEFA Cup qualifier: Jeunesse Esch 0-4 Celtic - won 11-0 on aggregate.
- 1999 UEFA Cup qualifier: Cwmbrân Town 0-6 Celtic - won 10-0 on aggregate.
- 1997 UEFA Cup qualifier: Inter CableTel AFC 0-3 Celtic - won 8-0 on aggregate.
- 1980 European Cup first round: Celtic 6-0 Diósgyőri VTK - won 7-2 on aggregate.
- 1977 European Cup first round: Celtic 5-0 Jeunesse Esch - won 11-1 on aggregate.
- 1973 European Cup first round: Turun Palloseura 1-6 Celtic - won 9-1 on aggregate.
- 1971 European Cup second round: Celtic 5-0 Sliema Wanderers - won 7-1 on aggregate.
- 1970 European Cup second round: Waterford 0-7 Celtic - won 10-2 on aggregate.
- 1970 European Cup first round: Celtic 9-0 Kokkolan Palloveikot - won 14-0 on aggregate.
- 1970 European Cup quarter-final: Celtic 3-0 Fiorentina - won 3-1 on aggregate.
- 1969 European Cup second round: Celtic 3-0 Benfica - won on a coin toss after 3-3 score.
- 1968 European Cup second round: Celtic 5-1 Crvena zvezda - won 6-2 on aggregate.
- 1966 Cup Winners' Cup quarter-final: Celtic 3-0 Dynamo Kyiv - won 3-1 on aggregate.
- 1965 Cup Winners' Cup first round: Go Ahead Eagles 0-6 Celtic - won 7-0 on aggregate.
- 1964 Cup Winners' Cup semi-final: Celtic 3-0 MTK Budapest - lost 4-3 on aggregate.
- 1963 Cup Winners' Cup second round: Celtic 3-0 Dinamo Zagreb - won 4-2 on aggregate.
- 1963 Cup Winners' Cup first round: Basel 1-5 Celtic 3-0 - won 10-1 on aggregate.
Since Celtic first entered European competition in 1962, Wednesday night was the 27th time the Hoops have won a first leg by three clear goals. The good news for fans is that, only once have they failed to win the tie overall in this scenario. This came in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup semi-finals of 1964, swatting aside MTK Budapest 3-0 in Glasgow, before a collapse at Puskás Ferenc Stadion a fortnight later saw them smashed 4-0.
The other most noteworthy tie to pick out came in 1969/70, as Jock Stein's side reached the European Cup Final at San Siro. In the second round, his team beat Benfica 3-0 at Parkhead, before losing by the same scoreline at Estádio da Luz. Extra time was played but, before penalty shootouts, the victors were to instead be decided by a coin toss.
Two tosses took place, the first would decided he would choose the decider. Billy McNeil called heads, which was correct, before stating "heads again". The second time, Dutch official Laurens van Ravens dropped the coin, it rolled across the dressing room and, after crouching under a table to find out the result, declared Celtic winners.
Fair to say, O'Neill won't want to leave anything to chance in Linz next Tuesday. As a warning, under Brendan Rodgers, the Celts claimed emphatic Champions League play-off first leg home victories over Hapoel Be'er Sheva and Astana, before very nearly threw them away in the return leg, hanging on for dear life in Israel in 2016. Thus, no Celtic fan is taking anything for granted at Oberösterreich Arena next week.
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