What Bayern Munich’s saying about Celtic ahead of Champions League showdown

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The Celtic Star

·4 febbraio 2025

What Bayern Munich’s saying about Celtic ahead of Champions League showdown

Celtic take on Bayern Munich in the Champions League play-off round next Wednesday night at Celtic Park looking to secure a positive result to take to Germany six days days later at the Allianz Arena…

Fans of Bayern Munich display a tifo, of the Bayern Munich emblem prior to the DFB Cup round of 16 match between FC Bayern München and Bayer 04 Leverkusen at Allianz Arena on December 03, 2024 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)

How Bayer Munich view Celtic

Here’s how Bayern Munich look at the Celtic squad ahead of the Bundesliga leaders trip to Glasgow on Champions League play-off duties on Wednesday 12 February at Celtic Park before the tie concludes six days later at the Allianz Area in Munich on Tuesday 18 February.

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The corner flag inside the stadium prior to the UEFA Champions League match between FC Bayern München and Paris Saint-Germain at Football Arena Munich on November 26, 2024 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)

‘Celtic’s squad combines mentality, experience and youth. Alongside vastly experienced goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel and captain Callum McGregor, they also boast midfield engine Arne Engels, who joined from Augsburg in the summer, and Nicolas Kühn. The 25-year-old German forward will be familiar to Bayern supporters, having played for the reserves between January 2020 and summer 2021. He was part of the team that won the 3. Liga title in 2020 before heading to Scotland via spells at Erzgebirge Aue and Rapid Vienna. He’s been in excellent form this season with 16 goals and 12 assists in 31 competitive appearances.

Nicolas Kuhn of Celtic celebrates scoring his team’s second goal during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD4 match between Celtic FC and RB Leipzig at Celtic Park on November 05, 2024. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

‘Celtic’s top scorer this season Kyogo Furuhashi joined Rennes in the winter window, but in return they re-signed Jota, who scored 28 times in 83 games for the Hoops between 2021 and 2023.’

At stake is a place in the last 16 round of the Champions League and for Celtic it is the first knock-out round that the club has reached in 13 years.

Referee Rohit Saggi shows a red card to Daizen Maeda during the UEFA Champions League match between Celtic FC and BSC Young Boys at Celtic Park on January 22, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Daizen Maeda ban is a real blow for Brendan Rodgers

A huge blow for Brendan Rodgers for this tie was the decision by UEFA to upgrade Daizen Maeda’s automatic one-match ban for the red card he received against Swiss Champions BSC Young Boys to a two match ban. Maeda has been in brilliant form for Celtic and was badly missed in the 4-2 defeat at Villa Park against Aston Villa last midweek. The UEFA decision rules Maeda out of the first leg against Bayern Munich at Celtic Park – and you can click here for ticket options – but he will return for the match in Munich.

Jota celebrates his first goal after rejoining Celtic, Motherwell v Celtic, 2nd February 2025. Photo by Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Brendan Rodgers therefore has a few games to get new signing Jota up to speed to play a week on Wednesday and the Celtic manager will be looking to get an hour out of the player the Celtic supporters love and call their ‘Superstar from Portugual’.

A slim but it’s not an impossible task for Celtic

Celtic’s chances might be slim but it’s not an impossible task. Rodgers can point to the 3-1 Champions League win over RB Leipzig at Celtic Park in the group stages however that can be countered by Celtic being on the wrong end of a 7-1 hammering against Borussia Dortmund, who were of course beaten finalists in the Champions League last season.

Adam Idah scores Celtic’s second goal past Emiliano Martinez of Aston Villa during the UEFA Champions League match between Aston Villa and Celtic at Villa Park on January 29, 2025. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

Between shipping four goals to Aston Villa last week, Celtic did manage clean sheets in their visits to Bergamo and Zagreb, and stopping that Atalanta from scoring really does illustrate that Celtic can defend when they have to. That is only going to be significant if Celtic can record a home win against Bayern for the first time in Champions League history.

Celtic has taken many big scalps at Paradise

Celtic have beaten some of the biggest names in European football at Celtic Park including Barcelona, AC Milan, Manchester United, Ajax, Feyenoord and Benfica so anything is possible with that incredible atmosphere at Paradise to drive on the Celtic team.

Celtic v BSC Young Boys, view of Paradise from the sky. Photo Vagelis Georgariou

Bayern Munich are well aware of the noise levels at Celtic Park on Champions League nights.

‘Their famously vocal supporters are a real boost for Brendan Rodgers’ side, who haven’t lost at home for over a year and are in a commanding position in the Scottish Premiership, holding a 10-point lead over arch-rivals (the)Rangers.’

And talking of Feyenoord, the Dutch Champions recently thrashed Bayern Munich 3-0 in the Champions League group stages. Bayern are mighty at home at the Allianz Arena, as the aforementioned Dimano Zagreb found out on the opening night of the Champions League group stages when Bayern scored NINE goals to Zagreb’s two.

So if Celtic can take inspiration from Feyenoord’s impressive win and can recreate their own showing in Bergamo then there is a chance for the Hoops. And what an achievement that would be! No wonder tickets are selling so well for both stadiums. More details on Celtic tickets for the match against Bayern Munich at Celtic Park are available on the official Celtic FC website. Celtic season ticket holders had until 2pm today to secure their seats and any remaining tickets will go to a general sale over the next day or two.

Stewards remove a green flare off the pitch during the UEFA Champions League match between Aston Villa and Celtic at Villa Park on January 29, 2025. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Celtic supporters though still await the decision from UEFA regarding the threat of an away stadium ban if another pyrotechnic incident occurred. One supporter didn’t heed the warning at Villa Park so Celtic could be denied the backing of thousands of travelling supporters.