Need to know
Liverpool travel to face Austrian outfit LASK in the Champions League on Wednesday but what exactly does the Reds' opponents' name stand for?
Valon Berisha of Lask celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal during the UEFA Conference League 2024/25 League Phase MD1 Match between LASK and Djurgarden
Liverpool face LASK in the Champions League(Image: Getty)
Everything you need to know about Liverpool's Champions League opponents
Match setting: Matchday 2 of the Champions League league phase is here. And Liverpool are all set to face Austrian side LASK on Wednesday evening at the Raiffeisen Arena in Linz, Austria.
Name meaning: Some fans may be perplexed by the Reds' opponent's name. LASK stands for Linzer Athletik-Sport-Klub, which translates from German to English as the Linz Athletic Sports Club. The club traces its origins to August 7, 1899, when it was founded by Albert Siems as Linzer-Athletik-Sportklub "Siegfried", initially not as a football club but as a heavy athletics and fitness society focused on gymnastics, weightlifting and ring training.
Football adoption: On July 25, 1908, a dedicated football branch was established as Linzer Sport-Klub (LSK). By 1919, the organisation officially consolidated its athletic heritage with the football club under the unified title Linzer Athletik-Sport-Klub, establishing the permanent acronym LASK.
Club location: LASK hail from Linz, the capital city of Upper Austria, situated along the Danube River. They play their home matches at the modern Raiffeisen Arena (referred to as the Oberösterreich Arena for UEFA fixtures), which was rebuilt on the site of the Linzer Stadion and opened in February 2023 with a domestic capacity of 19,080 and an international capacity of 17,117.
Historical milestones: LASK cemented their legacy in the 1964–65 season by becoming the first club outside Vienna to win the Austrian Bundesliga championship and the Austrian domestic double. In their opening fixture of the 2026/27 Champions League league phase, they suffered a narrow 1–0 defeat away against Greek side AEK Athens.
Reds win: On the other hand, Liverpool enter the clash with early momentum after securing a 2–1 comeback victory over Atlético Madrid in their Champions League opener, bouncing back through an equaliser from Dominik Szoboszlai and a decisive strike from Alexis Mac Allister.