Celtic will go into the second leg of their Champions League playoff phase facing a one-goal deficit after defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich in Celtic Park on Wednesday evening.
Celtic got off to an electric start in Glasgow, with Nicolas Kuhn finding the net after just 26 seconds only for the goal to be disallowed due to an offside infringement from Adam Idah.
Almost a PERFECT start for Celtic - but the linesman has his flag up ❌
Niclas Kuhn cuts in and fires a brilliant shot into the back of the net after 26 seconds, but Adam Idah is in an offside position.
📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/IIDfAZfi0p— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) February 12, 2025
While Celtic went toe-to-toe with the German giants for all but ten minutes of the clash, as is the case playing all great teams, Brendan Rodgers' men were severely punished for any and every rare lapse in form.
The first of those came seconds before halftime when Michael Olise fired a long rase missile straight past a helpless Kasper Schmeichel. The second - much more avoidable - goal came not even five minutes after the teams re-emerged from the tunnel, with Harry Kane finding himself entirely unmarked at the back post on a corner, and free to wallop the football into the Celtic Park net, doubling the damage.
A gift for Harry Kane 🎁
All alone at the back post, and the England captain makes no mistake, brilliantly finishing to double Bayern's lead ⚽️
📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/zWgFZTv8n6— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) February 12, 2025
Having been put on the back foot by the double blow, it was nearly the 70th minute when Celtic once again found their feet and put the German side under pressure, Daizen Maeda clawing one back for his side in the 78th minute to keep the tie alive.
While Celtic had chances to the end, an experience-laden Bayern Munich team knew exactly how to see through to the final whistle, securing a 2-1 away win.
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Brendan Rodgers reveals what he said to players about Harry Kane goal
Despite a general air of positivity about his side's performance in the clash, Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers was obviously rueing the fashion in which Harry Kane bagged the game's decisive goal.
Speaking to TNT Sports after the loss, Rodgers explained exactly what he had to say to his players about the goal in the dressing room.
We looked like we'd got off to the perfect start, fantastic goal, sadly it wasn't given.
It's about us being more aggressive, that's our mindset going into the second half. We then give away a goal, and I just said to the guys in there afterwards; 'in our corners and everything else we've been very good, but one player you don't leave unmarked is arguably the best striker in world football'.
So Harry finishes it really well, 2-0, then we've got to make the changes but I thought in the last 25 minutes then we started to press the game..and you see what it brought.
We got one more shot, it's a new level for a lot of the players, they've done absolutely great, we've got one more shot now in a wonderful arena..let's go and have no regrets.
"Let's go and have no regrets" 👊
Brendan Rodgers analyses his team's performance, and his feelings ahead of next week's 2nd leg.
📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/qUOOxNRmJB— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) February 12, 2025
It'll now be an uphill battle for Rodger's men to keep their Champions League campaign alive, with a trip to one of football's great amphitheatres in Munich lying in wait.
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