Brendan Rodgers had a mixture of pride and disappointment when he reflected on Celtic’s UEFA Champions League game against Bayern Munich in the Allianz Arena, though the overwhelming feeling was of pride in his players’ performance. Trailing 2-1 from the first leg, Celtic produced a superb display against one of Europe’s top teams, and levelled the tie on the night when Nicolas Kuhn scored in the second-half. And just when it looked as though the match would go to extra-time, Bayern scored with almost the last kick of the game to equalise on the night and go through 3-2 on aggregate. It was a heartbreaking way to go out of Europe, particularly given the quality of Celtic’s performance throughout the game. And the Celtic manager explained that it’s another indicator of the strides his team is continuing to make at this level. Speaking to Celtic TV after the match, he said: “In terms of the performance I’ve very proud. Naturally we’re hugely disappointed to concede so late, but this is Bayern Munich and we’ve come out here and played without any fear. “We had opportunities to win the game – good opportunities – we showed our courage with and without the ball, and just pride really, as well as disappointment at this moment because the guys gave so much to the game.“The players gave everything to the game and we made it really difficult for Bayern Munich. Some of our football was at a really good level. We managed our way through the game how we wanted to. We started well, we created opportunities, we pressed at the right time, we sat in at the right moments and didn’t give away so much. “Harry Kane hit the crossbar towards the end of the first half but other than that we were in a good place and had really good chances in the first-half – three really, really good chances. “But I look at the performance and my takeaway from Europe is the credibility that we’ve gained this season. We’ve developed from last season and improved yet again this season and I’m really excited going forward what this team can do.” Celtic will head home tomorrow to begin preparing for Saturday’s Premiership match away to Hibernian, and the Hoops boss explained that there is still much for the team to focus on this season, while also setting their sights on returning to the UEFA Champions League next season. “Now we can get back, we can recover, we’ve got two trophies now to aim for in this latter part of the season so we want to make sure we’re in this competition again next season,” he said. “My unswerving commitment is to make Celtic a seasoned team at this level, and from last season to this season there have been improvement and we look to mFixturesFC Bayern München Vs. Celtic – Tue, Feb 18th 2025, 20:00
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