O’Neill hails Durán as Celtic beat Lask 3-0 in Champions League playoff first leg
On 19 August 2026, Celtic defeated Lask 3-0 in the first leg of their Champions League playoff in Glasgow, with summer signing Camilo Durán scoring twice and Benjamin Nygren adding a superb finish.
Nygren’s opening goal came amid a strong start to the season for the Swede, who has four goals and four assists in as many games, while Lask had two goals disallowed for offside and created several chances in an open match that Celtic finished clinically.
Nygren opened the scoring in the 26th minute, readjusting his body to volley into the top corner from 20 yards after a weak clearance from Kieran Tierney’s cross.
Twelve minutes later Durán struck a nearly identical finish, volleying first time into the same top corner from the same area after Tierney’s cross was headed out.
The former Qarabag forward added what the report describes as his third Celtic goal midway through the second half, exchanging passes with Nygren following a flick from summer signing Kasper Høgh and stroking the ball into the top corner from inside the box.
Manager Martin O’Neill praised Durán after the match, saying: “He was exceptional. Really exceptional. He’s been fantastic for us since he’s arrived at the football club. His goals were terrific, his play was great. His running back, helping full-backs, helping Colby [Donovan] out on a number of occasions. It was just a magnificent performance. “And if he stays clear of injury, he’s going to be a really, really good player. Whatever we paid for Durán, I think he has paid his ticket by now. I don’t think it was an awful lot of money when you consider some of the fees that they’re talking about for the Premier League. “I think he’s a real bargain – £4.5m or something like that there. The centre-forward [Hogh] has given us a bit of presence there, which I don’t think we had last year, despite Daizen [Maeda] probably winning the league for us single-handedly. It’s nice to have that.”
Lask threatened early: Moses Usor had a volley flagged offside inside 30 seconds and Samuel Adeniran scuffed a chance when clean through, and a headed Lask goal was later ruled out for offside; Viljami Sinisalo made several saves and Callum McGregor hit a deflected 20-yard shot off the inside of a post as chances continued to come for both sides. Reo Hatate was introduced to loud applause in what the report notes could be one of his final Celtic Park appearances, Durán tracked back to make a defensive challenge near his own byline, and Celtic kept a clean sheet.
The win put Celtic firmly in the driving seat ahead of the second leg in Linz next Tuesday and eased nerves among home supporters after recent transfer tribulations, with the report noting last year’s exit at this stage against Kairat Almaty followed a failure to sign a proven striker and that the arrivals of Durán and Høgh addressed that issue while other signings were slower to arrive.