The annual search for silverware is at the heart of Celtic Football Club, and the Hoops are looking for a golden gateway to the next round the UEFA Champions League when they take on Bayern Munich on Wednesday night. One lucky Celtic fan will be £25,000 richer on the night thanks to the Celtic Pools Golden Ticket which will grant the Paradise Windfall winner that amazing amount for the first time outside of a Glasgow derby game… But the real icing on the cake would be that mega 25-grand plus a positive result against the German giants. That will be down to Alistair Johnston and his Celtic team-mates, with a little help from their friends in the stands as 60,000 Hoops fans roar them on in another electric European night at Paradise. The Canadian defender said: “As soon as we got through in the league phase we knew that we had qualified, and in the Villa changing room we realised we were going to get Real Madrid or Bayern, so that was exciting to see our name get pulled against Bayern Munich. ‘It’s a special, special match and again it’s one of those ones you’re really excited just to be a part of and say that you’re going to have a chance to be out there, because I think we can all agree that Celtic Park is going to be rocking.’ “Now it’s up to us to go out there and give those fans something to cheer for. “We’re all super-excited for it. It’s a massive tie and a great chance for us to go and show, not only the rest of Europe, but the rest of the world what we’re all about as a team, so it’s an exciting opportunity for us. “We’ll take it game by game here. Obviously it’s 180 minutes, so we’ve just got to get through this first 90, use Celtic Park to our advantage, and hopefully we can make it a really memorable night.”The Celts have already met German opposition twice in this campaign, and the away defeat to Borussia Dortmund, followed by the later 3-1 win over RB Leipzig is just one example of how this group of players has learned and improved over the course of this European drive. Johnston said: “For me, obviously that Champions League last year, that group stage, six matches – there’s a reason why they call it the league phase now, it genuinely feels like a league. “You play that many matches, obviously eight individual opponents that are different – unique opponents. It truly feels like a league and you are going to learn. ‘It’s just like in our domestic league, how we’ve grown and figured things out as time goes on. I think we’ve also noticed that within the Champions League.’ “These are what the minimum standards are, and away from home versus home, how it’s going to be different, how you need to impose yourself when you’re the home team versus away. “You need to be comfortable defending and understand that it’s not always going to be a comfortable scoreline that sometimes we have domestically when we’re dominating the ball. “It’s not always going to be that, and you need to have the bravery and the understanding that we’re going to have periods and spells when we’re going to have to defend our box, defend our final third, and you need to enjoy that as well. “When you have that kind of buy-in from the front of the pitch, I think it filters through the whole group and I think that’s where the learning is that we’re more comfortable in terms of shape and going toe-to-toe with the big teams. “And this is a reason why we’ve made it this far where we’re into the knockouts, but now you really get the tightness of European football, so it’s great opportunity, but at the same time it’s not going to be easy by any stretch of the imagination.” Watch the full interview to hear AJ on… The possibility of playing against Canadian internationalist team-mate, Alphonso Davies Missing Daizen Maeda for the first leg Fitness for the challenge of European games As always, Paradise Windfall tickets are available to purchase for just £2 before the match. Look out for the Paradise Windfall team who will be on hand in their yellow jerseys, and don’t forget to pick up your ticket to be in with a chance of winning big! SIGN UP ONLINE CAN’T MAKE IT TO THE MATCH? DOWNLOAD OUR APP If you can’t make it along this midweek, you can purchase your Paradise Windfall Golden Ticket by via the Celtic Pools App. The App is available to download on both Apple and Android and tickets can be purchased now until kick-off on Wednesday (8:00pm). DOWNLOAD THE APP The Paradise Windfall is crucial in supporting the Celtic Academy, with all net profit going directly towards developing our young players. Players must be aged over 18 years. Celtic Development Pools Ltd is licensed and regulated by the Gambling Commission. Terms and conditions apply. Begambleaware.orgFixturesCeltic Vs. FC Bayern München – Wed, Feb 12th 2025, 20:00
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