Celtic 1-2 Bayern Munich: German side take crucial lead into the second leg after an enthralling match at Celtic Park.
Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic side suffered a 2-1 defeat against Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League play-off.
Michael Olise’s stunning strike gave Bayern Munich the lead before Harry Kane doubled their advantage just four minutes after the break. Japanese winger Daizen Maeda pulled one back for Celtic, but the German giants held on to secure a crucial away victory in the two-legged tie.
Maeda’s goal at Celtic Park kept their hopes alive, but history is not on their side—they haven’t won an away game in Europe since 2017. Celtic will travel to Germany with a glimmer of hope of reaching the last 16 of the Champions League but there is no doubt it will be a tough challenge.
Their only group-stage loss came at Borussia Dortmund, where they were thrashed 7-0 despite scoring early. Against Bayern, however, they showed how much they have developed. Under pressure, they did not crumble and it could have been a very different game had Adam Idah not been caught offside when Nicolas Kuhn fired home inside the opening minute.
‘Still a Possibility’ for Rodgers
Despite the defeat, Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers remains optimistic about pulling off an upset in the second leg.
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers: “It was always going to be a big challenge for us. We’re always going to be the underdog in this tie. You see their level, you see their quality.
“We hung in there against a really top side and we gave them problems, so we’ll take confidence from that.
“We now go over next week and we’re still right in the tie. There’s only a one-goal difference.
“It’s a big challenge, we know that, but it’s still a possibility.
“You can always lose at this level but you must never be broken – and we weren’t broken.
“We kept going, we kept trying to play, we kept fighting and then we got a reward for that.
“It lets Bayern Munich have a think that, no, this team, you just can’t roll them over. They’ll be there, their spirit’s there.
“We’ll take that attitude into our game next week.”
Kompany Lauds Bayern After Surviving Celtic Park Cauldron
Vincent Kompany hailed a “great result” as Bayern Munich survived a tough test at Celtic Park, though he warned that the tie is far from over.
“It’s cliche to say, but it’s the first half of the game. Overall, it’s a really great result,” Kompany said at his post-match press conference.
“The fans haven’t seen many losses here, especially in Europe, so we appreciate the importance of the game and the victory.”
Kompany always expected a difficult challenge, acknowledging how important the home crowd can be when inspiring Celtic past their opponents.
“I know this place, I know it transcends performance sometimes,” he added. “We dealt really well with it for long spells of the game, didn’t let the game go crazy.
“The last 10 minutes we had to defend and we did that well. Of course, you can feel in those moments, if the game comes alive it is a special place.”
Kompany seemed to have no fears, however, knowing Celtic must make the trip to Munich next week.
“We’re also pretty decent at home so we’ll look to play on that as well,” he concluded.
“We have an important game on Saturday, so we’ll switch our focus to that.”
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