Celtic's Champions League campaign came to an utterly heartbreaking conclusion on Tuesday night, as a 94th-minute Alphonso Davies goal sent Bayern Munich through to the last 16.
A late goal from Daizen Maeda in last week's 2-1 defeat at Celtic Park gave the Hoops hope as they took on the daunting task of a trip to Munich for Tuesday night's second leg.
When they went in level at half-time, that hope had only grown, and it was about to reach fever-pitch come the hour mark.
After 62 minutes, Irishman Adam Idah set Celtic on the break and a combination of perseverance from the Bhoys and ineptitude from the Bayern defence allowed their former player Nicolas Kuhn to put Celtic 1-0 up on the night and level up the tie.
NICOLAS KÜHN!!! 🤯
The former Bayern man scores for Celtic and makes it 2-2 on aggregate in Munich 🍀 pic.twitter.com/exu6AhNvV3— Premier Sports Ireland (@PremSportsIRL) February 18, 2025
From there on, it was backs against the wall for Celtic.
Kuhn was soon forced off injured, as a relentless wave of Bayern pressure battered the Scottish champions' goal.
A tremendous effort from Kasper Schmeichel and the Celtic defence was to be undone at the very last. Schmeichel got down brilliantly to bat away Leon Goretzka's header, but Cameron Carter-Vickers could only bundle the ball onto Alphonso Davies, whose goal broke Celtic hearts with just over 45 seconds to play.
Alphonso Davies wins it! 🇨🇦
The Canadian left-back scores in added time to help Bayern Munich defeat Celtic 🔴 pic.twitter.com/sQ3fLPuWp4— Premier Sports Ireland (@PremSportsIRL) February 18, 2025
It was a gut-wrenching way for Celtic's European journey to end, on a night when they threatened to deliver one of their greatest ever results in this competition.
Through the dejection, former Hoops boss Martin O'Neill provided some brilliant perspective pitchside in Munich.
READ HERE: League Of Ireland Premier Division Team Of The Week: Round One
READ HERE: Quiz: Name The 20 Players Who Have Scored The Most Premier League Goals For Liverpool
Bayern Munich v Celtic
Ex-Celtic managers Martin O'Neill and Neil Lennon were on punditry duty for Prime Video at the Allianz Arena, and it was O'Neill who best summed up what the performance from Brendan Rodgers' side had meant.
Even though Celtic's Champions League journey is over, O'Neill lavished them with praise for their showing in Munich, saying they had shown their worth on the European stage.
This is not Slovan Bratislava, this is not Young Boys. This is away in Bayern Munich, who would be one of the favourites to win the competition, or at least would think themselves one of the favourites to win it.
Celtic were absolutely magnificent. I really felt from the beginning, whether it was a change of policy, change of plan, change of tactics, whatever it was...
Ut was the closing down of players further up the field. I said it at half-time, I felt it unnerved Bayern, they never got into their stride.
True, [Bayern] had plenty of possession in the last 20 minutes, but it never felt as though they were going to break Celtic down. I thought, 'Just see it through, the next half hour.'
I very seldom disagree with that man [Lennon] over there but I thought Celtic would have the energy for the last half hour of the game to maybe drive and go on and win it.
There was no doubt at all about it, not only were the [Bayern] fans here nervous, the Bayern players were very nervous about their approach to the game.
The wait goes on for Celtic to reach the last 16 but they have no doubt shown something different in this campaign to recent seasons in the Champions League.
They will pocket a massive £38 million for coming this far in the competition and, later in the discussion, host Gabby Logan asked how Celtic could add to that money next year by going even deeper into the Champions League.
"That is the £38 million question," O'Neill mused, "The £38 million question, if there is such a thing, is exactly what do you do?
"This form is going to be hanging around, Celtic have felt the comforts of it. I think it's suited them down to the ground as well.
"I think when you get this far, there's only 12 teams going out of the 36. If you get this far, over a two-leg affair, regardless of who you play, Celtic will always feel they have a chance at Celtic Park, regardless of who you're playing. Whether it's Real Madrid or Bayern Munich, or anyone.
"But their away performance tonight will become really significant in the days ahead. I think they will feel, 'Listen, we can actually do something about it.'
"This was Bayern Munich, top of the Bundesliga. A brilliant effort, really."
Well said by Martin O'Neill.
Though the fairytale ending didn't come through for Celtic on Tuesday, fans will hope there are brighter European days ahead.
