There has been a stark contrast in the direction of travel for St Johnstone and LASK since the two sides met in a Europa Conference League qualifier just over two years ago.
While Saints have endured two seasons of domestic toil, suffering two flirtations with relegation and another tough campaign ahead of them, the Austrian outfit are back in Europe, ready to welcome the mighty Liverpool to Linz.
As has been the case at McDiarmid Park – albeit for different reasons – LASK’s squad is barely recognisable from the one managed by Dominik Thalhammer in 2021.
There are two players who will bring back clear memories for Saints fans, though.
Thomas Goiginger
Then 28, the quick and skilful winger was the only LASK player of that time who had been linked with a big money move to Britain.
Southampton were reported to be keen on Goiginger, with a £5 million price tag put on him.
He played the full 90 minutes of both matches against Saints.
Apart from a couple of dangerous corners in the first half, he had a quiet start to the first leg.
But he made a decisive contribution on the hour mark, when a lazy leg was hung out by Jamie McCart in the box and the contact with Goiginger was enough to earn a penalty, which was dispatched by Mamoudou Karamoko to make the final score 1-1.
Like a few of his team-mates, Goiginger’s performance was much-improved in Perth and he was a constant threat as Saints found life tougher on their own pitch.
He was inches away from scoring early in the game after star turn Keito Nakamura drilled a cross to the back post.
Florian Flecker
The midfielder had a quiet evening in Klagenfurt and was substituted on 69 minutes.
The quality of his football won’t be the abiding memory of Saints supporters from the return leg either, even though he had a good game as the visitors triumphed 2-0.
WATCH: David Wotherspoon sees red just minutes after being introduced!
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— BBC Sport Scotland (@BBCSportScot) August 26, 2021
Flecker was the player who went down near the corner flag after Perth legend, David Wotherspoon, threw out an arm in frustration and was red-carded.
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