Despite an admirably spirited effort from Celtic in front of their home support, Bayern Munich pulled off a 2-1 win at Celtic Park in the first leg of the playoff round of the UEFA Champions League thanks to goals from Michael Olise and Harry Kane; one in either half of play. Celtic were ruled out via the offside flag within the opening minute and certainly had their chances at goal, but Daizen Maeda’s 79th minute goal when Bayern was already 2-0 up proved to be nothing more than a consolation and temporary inspiration to press on for a late equalizer.
Vincent Kompany’s side will now take the 2-1 advantage back to the Allianz Arena for leg two next week and will have every bit of confidence they can see things through to the round of 16. They have been perhaps a bit guilty of surrendering leads late on, but they did enough to stave off Celtic throwing numbers forward at the end of the second half. Brendan Rodgers’ side showed plenty of respect to the Rekordmeister, but balanced that out with forward play of their own.
Joshua Kimmich provided the assist for Kane’s goal via a well taken corner kick that proved to be the match winner. Bayern’s number 6 has now tallied 5 assists in the Champions League, which is the highest tally in the competition along with FC Barcelona’s Raphinha, Atalanta’s Charles De Ketelaere, and Bayer Leverkusen’s Jeremie Frimpong.
Speaking after the match, Kimmich admitted that he felt Bayern let Celtic back into the match a bit too much in the buildup to their goal and that Bayern started to lose some of the control they had been establishing with their two-goal lead. “We lost a bit of control after the second goal then the fans were there, and the stadium got really loud. It’s difficult to control every game over 95 minutes. Of course that’s our goal, but it’s not easy when the opponent has momentum. We conceded an unnecessary goal, and it was important to defend the win until the end. Manu [Neuer] also made 1-2 good saves. It’s an important win for the spirit,” the midfielder explained (via @iMiaSanMia).
Photo by Craig Foy/SNS Group via Getty Images
Regardless of the narrative in the closing stages, a win is a win and Bayern are in pole position to progress to the round of 16. It will be a tough period, though, as the all important Bundesliga clash against Leverkusen looms large in between now and the return leg against Celtic in the Champions League.
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