Champions League Play-Offs: Celtic Collapse, Fenerbahçe Return as Three Clubs Make History

Seven Champions League places were available. By the end of two nights that produced 30 goals, three extra-time finishes, three red cards and one extraordinary four-goal aggregate reversal, the final shape of the 2026-27 league phase was complete.

Fenerbahçe ended an absence stretching back to 2008-09. Viking reached the Champions League proper for the first time. Sabah and LASK also broke new ground, while Bodø/Glimt returned for a second successive season, AEK Athens ended an eight-year wait and Slovan Bratislava survived one of the closest ties of the round.

The final scores tell only part of the story.

Celtic travelled to Austria protecting a 3-0 advantage, scored the opening goal of the second leg and somehow went out 5-4 on aggregate. NEC Nijmegen effectively began their attempt to recover a two-goal deficit with ten men after goalkeeper Gonzalo Crettaz was dismissed inside three minutes. Sabah twice found themselves two goals behind on aggregate before forcing extra time deep into stoppage time.

Across seven return legs, the margins between qualification and elimination repeatedly moved within minutes.

UEFA’s official Champions League qualifying record confirms that Sabah, LASK, Bodø/Glimt, AEK Athens, Viking, Slovan Bratislava and Fenerbahçe have taken the seven available league-phase places.

The Sports Encounter had already followed several of these stories through the first legs and Wednesday’s decisive action. Looking at the complete round together, however, reveals something bigger: this was a qualifying week in which reputation offered remarkably little protection.

Champions League Play-Off Second-Leg Results

Second Leg	Result	Aggregate	Qualified
Sabah vs Hapoel Beer-Sheva	5-2 AET	6-4	Sabah
LASK vs Celtic	5-1 AET	5-4	LASK
Bodø/Glimt vs NEC Nijmegen	3-0	6-1	Bodø/Glimt
AEK Athens vs Levski Sofia	4-0	4-0	AEK Athens
Viking vs Dinamo Zagreb	3-1	5-3	Viking
Celje vs Slovan Bratislava	1-2 AET	2-3	Slovan Bratislava
Lyon vs Fenerbahçe	1-2	2-3	Fenerbahçe

Those seven matches produced 30 second-leg goals. Across both legs of the seven ties, there were 48 goals. Three required extra time.

That combination of scoring, reversals and late drama made the final qualifying round considerably more volatile than the simple list of qualifiers suggests.

LASK 5-1 Celtic: From 4-0 Down to the Champions League

No result better illustrates what happened during the play-offs than Celtic’s collapse in Linz.

The Scottish champions entered the second leg holding a commanding 3-0 advantage after their victory at Celtic Park, a result The Sports Encounter examined in detail in our first-leg Celtic vs LASK analysis.

Then Callum McGregor scored in Austria.

At that moment, Celtic were 4-0 ahead on aggregate.

For LASK, qualification now required five goals without another Celtic reply.

They scored all five.

Moses Usor started the recovery before halftime. Robert Ljubičić made it 2-1 early in the second half, and Samuel Adeniran’s long-range effort dragged LASK closer to the aggregate score.

The crucial goal arrived in stoppage time.

Florian Flecker headed in to make it 4-1 on the night and 4-4 overall, sending a tie that Celtic had controlled by four aggregate goals into extra time.

Adeniran then struck again in the 109th minute.

LASK had turned a 4-0 aggregate deficit into a 5-4 victory.

UEFA noted another detail that makes the result even more striking: LASK entered the match without a victory in their previous 11 UEFA competition games.

They ended that sequence by producing the most consequential win in their European history and reaching the Champions League league phase for the first time.

Where Celtic actually lost control

The immediate temptation is to describe the result as a defensive collapse, but the deeper issue was Celtic’s inability to interrupt LASK’s growing belief.

Once Usor scored, the game stopped behaving like a second leg being managed by a team with a huge aggregate cushion.

Every subsequent LASK goal altered the emotional mathematics.

At 2-1, Celtic remained comfortable. At 3-1, the Austrian crowd could see a route. Flecker’s stoppage-time header removed the last psychological protection Celtic had left.

By extra time, the team that had started four goals ahead was reacting to the contest rather than controlling it.

Sabah 5-2 Hapoel Beer-Sheva: The Tie That Refused to End

Sabah’s route into the Champions League may have been even more chaotic.

The Azerbaijani club began the evening trailing 2-1 from the first leg. Igor Zlatanović then scored for Hapoel Beer-Sheva after ten minutes, extending the Israeli side’s aggregate lead to 3-1.

Christian Nwachukwu brought Sabah back into the contest in the 37th minute, only for Guy Mizrahi to restore Hapoel’s two-goal aggregate advantage after the interval.

The situation still looked bleak with little more than 15 minutes remaining.

Umarali Rakhmonaliev made it 2-2 on the night before Tellur Mutallimov produced one of the most important goals anywhere in Champions League qualifying, volleying home from a corner in second-half stoppage time.

That goal made it 4-4 on aggregate.

Extra time then turned sharply against Hapoel.

Djibril Diop was sent off shortly before Orphe Mbina headed Sabah in front. Joy-Lance Mickels added another in the 115th minute, and Eliel Peretz was subsequently dismissed as Hapoel finished with nine men.

Sabah eventually won 6-4 on aggregate.

The scoreline looks relatively comfortable when read without context. The contest itself was anything but.

Sabah had been two goals behind on aggregate twice during the second leg and were still facing elimination as stoppage time began. They finished the night as Champions League qualifiers.

Azerbaijan now has another Champions League story

UEFA confirmed that Sabah have become only the second Azerbaijani club to reach the competition proper, following Qarabağ.

That development matters beyond one dramatic evening.

The Champions League’s expanding competitive map is increasingly visible through clubs arriving from leagues that historically received little attention during the main European season.

Readers can follow those wider stories through The Sports Encounter’s global soccer coverage.

Bodø/Glimt 3-0 NEC: A Red Card Ends the Contest Before It Can Develop

While Sabah and LASK needed extraordinary recoveries, Bodø/Glimt experienced a very different second leg.

They already led NEC Nijmegen 3-1 after winning in the Netherlands.

NEC’s difficult assignment became dramatically harder after only three minutes when goalkeeper Gonzalo Crettaz was sent off.

Any plan built around patience, controlled aggression and an early goal immediately disappeared.

Fredrik André Bjørkan eventually opened the scoring from Sondre Auklend’s cutback, Auklend added the second before halftime and a Deveron Fonville own goal completed the 3-0 victory.

Bodø/Glimt progressed 6-1 on aggregate and qualified for the Champions League for a second consecutive season.

UEFA’s statistical note provides useful context for how reliably the Norwegian side has carried its domestic attacking identity into Europe: Bodø had scored at least twice in 11 of their previous 12 UEFA competition matches after completing the tie.

The result can easily be filed as a routine 6-1 aggregate victory. The third-minute dismissal is what really explains why NEC never had an opportunity to turn the second leg into a contest.

Fenerbahçe Beat Lyon and Finally End an 18-Year Wait

Fenerbahçe’s qualification carried a different kind of pressure.

The Istanbul club had not appeared in the Champions League proper since 2008-09.

After a 1-1 draw in Turkey, their return depended on winning in Lyon.

They did most of the decisive work within a four-minute first-half spell.

Vedat Muriqi scored in the 24th minute before Archie Brown made it 2-0 in the 28th.

Malick Fofana pulled one back for Lyon after halftime, but the French side could not find the equalizer that would have forced extra time.

Fenerbahçe advanced 3-2 on aggregate.

As covered in our dedicated Champions League play-off report on Fenerbahçe, Viking, AEK and Slovan, this qualification closed one of the longest Champions League absences involving a major European club.

There was another historical obstacle involved.

UEFA confirmed that Fenerbahçe had lost their previous four European two-legged ties against French opposition. Victory over Lyon therefore represented their first successful UEFA knockout tie against a French club at the fifth attempt.

That is a more revealing measure of the breakthrough than the final 3-2 aggregate score alone.

Viking 3-1 Dinamo Zagreb: Norwegian Football Gains Another Seat

Viking’s qualification may carry the greatest long-term meaning.

The Norwegian club had never played in the Champions League proper.

Dinamo Zagreb appeared determined to keep it that way when Arbër Hoxha scored after ten minutes in Stavanger, restoring the Croatian side’s aggregate advantage after the first leg had ended 2-2.

Viking’s reaction was immediate enough to prevent anxiety from taking over.

Zlatko Tripić converted a penalty in the 18th minute.

Then came the sequence that decided the tie.

Edvin Austbø struck in the 48th minute, and Tobias Moi scored two minutes later.

Within the opening five minutes of the second half, a balanced contest had become a 3-1 Viking lead.

They held it and progressed 5-3 on aggregate.

Viking will now join Bodø/Glimt in the Champions League, giving Norwegian football two clubs in the league phase.

That deserves attention because Bodø’s European rise is increasingly looking less like an isolated phenomenon. Viking have now added another Norwegian model to Europe’s elite competition.

AEK Athens 4-0 Levski Sofia: Twenty-Nine Minutes Settle Everything

AEK Athens entered their home leg in perhaps the cleanest position of the seven ties.

The first match against Levski Sofia had finished 0-0.

There was no deficit to chase and no advantage to protect.

AEK required only 29 minutes to remove nearly all uncertainty.

Luka Jović headed in Lazaros Rota’s cross after seven minutes. Barnabás Varga then scored twice in quick succession, sending AEK into halftime three goals ahead.

Răzvan Marin converted a penalty after the break to complete the 4-0 victory.

AEK therefore return to the Champions League proper for the first time since the 2018-19 season.

The interesting detail was not simply the margin.

After 90 goalless minutes in Bulgaria, AEK effectively decided the entire 180-minute contest during a 22-minute stretch in Athens.

UEFA also highlighted their growing home strength in continental competition. AEK have now won nine of their last 11 UEFA home matches, with one draw and one defeat.

Slovan Bratislava Survive 210 Minutes Against Celje

If AEK settled their tie early, Slovan Bratislava needed almost every available minute.

The first leg had finished 1-1.

Andraž Šporar gave Slovan the lead in Slovenia after 18 minutes, but Svit Sešlar converted a penalty 16 minutes later.

From there, the contest tightened.

Celje’s Yaya Dukuly hit the post. Slovan’s Roman Čerepkai later struck the woodwork at the other end.

Neither side could find a winner in regulation time.

Cristian Martínez finally broke the deadlock in the 100th minute after Nino Marcelli carried the ball forward from deep.

Even then Celje nearly responded, with Mario Kvesić hitting the woodwork.

Slovan eventually advanced 3-2 on aggregate after 210 minutes of football.

UEFA’s broader record shows why they were equipped for such a tie: Slovan have now won eight of their last ten European two-legged contests.

That is the kind of experience that becomes particularly valuable when qualification is reduced to one moment in extra time.

Three First-Time Qualifiers Changed the Shape of the League Phase

The most significant collective story from the play-offs is the number of clubs entering new territory.

Sabah, LASK and Viking have all reached the Champions League proper for the first time.

Bodø/Glimt have made it for a second consecutive season, while Fenerbahçe have returned after 18 years and AEK after eight.

The league phase therefore gains several clubs carrying very different levels of European history.

That mix will sit alongside established continental powers and other unusual 2026-27 storylines, including Shakhtar Donetsk playing their Champions League home matches at Stamford Bridge.

Manchester United are also back after their domestic recovery under Michael Carrick, which we examined in our analysis of Manchester United’s 2026-27 rebuild.

The Numbers Behind an Extraordinary Play-Off Round

Seven second legs produced 30 goals, an average of more than four per game.

The full seven ties generated 48 goals across both legs.

Three second legs required extra time: Sabah against Hapoel Beer-Sheva, LASK against Celtic and Celje against Slovan Bratislava.

Three players were sent off across the decisive matches, with NEC goalkeeper Crettaz dismissed after three minutes and Hapoel Beer-Sheva finishing extra time against Sabah with nine men.

Perhaps the most remarkable number belongs to Celtic.

They moved four goals ahead on aggregate after scoring first in Austria and were eliminated 5-4.

No single metric captures qualifying pressure better.

What the Seven Qualifiers Bring Into the Champions League

• Sabah: A competition newcomer representing only the second Azerbaijani club to reach this level.
• LASK: A first Champions League appearance earned through one of the great qualifying comebacks.
• Bodø/Glimt: Consecutive league-phase qualifications and growing evidence of sustained Norwegian European strength.
• AEK Athens: A return after an eight-season absence, backed by increasingly strong European home form.
• Viking: A first Champions League appearance and another major breakthrough for Norwegian club football.
• Slovan Bratislava: A team increasingly comfortable surviving close European knockout ties.
• Fenerbahçe: A major club returning after 18 years and carrying a substantial fan base back onto Europe’s biggest stage.

The Next Test Is Very Different

Qualifying rewards survival.

The league phase rewards consistency against a deeper level of opposition.

The seven play-off winners now join 29 automatic qualifiers in the 36-team field. The structure awaiting them is explained in our UEFA league-phase draw guide, where finishing inside the top eight earns direct passage to the round of 16, positions nine through 24 lead to knockout play-offs, and 25th or lower means European elimination.

UEFA’s official second-leg round-up confirms that the seven play-off winners complete the league-phase field.

The UEFA league-phase draw then determines the eight opponents each club will face under the current Champions League format.

For clubs such as Sabah, LASK and Viking, simply reaching this point already changes their season financially, competitively and historically.

The next question is whether any of them can turn qualification into something more.

A Qualifying Week That Punished Assumptions

Celtic appeared almost untouchable with a 3-0 first-leg lead.

They went out.

Dinamo Zagreb carried far more Champions League experience than Viking.

They went out.

Lyon had home advantage in a level tie against a Fenerbahçe side carrying nearly two decades of Champions League frustration.

They went out.

Those outcomes do not mean experience or reputation stopped mattering. They show how little protection either provides when the margin for a poor spell becomes this small.

The same lesson applies once the league phase begins.

Paris Saint-Germain have already opened the European season by beating Aston Villa in the UEFA Super Cup, a match covered in our PSG vs Aston Villa Super Cup report. The distance between clubs at that level may appear substantial on paper, but this qualifying round has already shown what pressure, momentum and a few decisive minutes can do.

The biggest names will soon enter the competition.

Sabah, LASK, Bodø/Glimt, AEK, Viking, Slovan Bratislava and Fenerbahçe have already survived the part where there was no room for tomorrow.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which teams qualified for the 2026-27 Champions League through the play-offs?

Sabah, LASK, Bodø/Glimt, AEK Athens, Viking FK, Slovan Bratislava and Fenerbahçe won the seven play-off ties and qualified for the 36-team Champions League league phase.

What happened to Celtic in the Champions League play-offs?

Celtic won the first leg against LASK 3-0 and then scored first in Austria, moving 4-0 ahead on aggregate. LASK responded with five unanswered goals, including a stoppage-time equalizer on aggregate and an extra-time winner, to advance 5-4 overall.

When did Fenerbahçe last play in the Champions League?

Fenerbahçe’s previous appearance in the Champions League proper was in the 2008-09 season. Their 3-2 aggregate win over Lyon ended an 18-year absence.

Did Viking qualify for the Champions League for the first time?

Yes. Viking defeated Dinamo Zagreb 5-3 on aggregate to qualify for the Champions League proper for the first time in club history.

Did Sabah qualify for the Champions League for the first time?

Yes. Sabah defeated Hapoel Beer-Sheva 6-4 on aggregate after extra time and became only the second Azerbaijani club to reach the Champions League proper.

What was the biggest Champions League play-off comeback?

Among the 2026-27 play-off second legs, LASK produced the most dramatic reversal. They fell 4-0 behind Celtic on aggregate before scoring five consecutive goals to win the tie 5-4.

How many Champions League play-off second legs went to extra time?

Three of the seven second legs required extra time: Sabah vs Hapoel Beer-Sheva, LASK vs Celtic and Celje vs Slovan Bratislava.

What happens to teams eliminated from the Champions League play-offs?

Under UEFA’s 2026-27 qualifying structure, the seven clubs defeated in the Champions League play-off round move into the UEFA Europa League league phase.

How many teams are in the 2026-27 Champions League league phase?

The league phase contains 36 clubs. Twenty-nine qualified automatically and seven earned their places through the Champions League play-offs.

When does the 2026-27 Champions League league phase begin?

The opening league-phase matches are scheduled for September 8-10, 2026.