Celtic vs Bayern Munich: Preview, predictions and lineups | OneFootball

A special Champions League night is in store as Celtic take on Bayern Munich in the first leg of their play-off on Wednesday.

Celtic celebrated a long-awaited return to the knockout phase of this competition by beating Young Boys 1-0 on Matchday 7, but a subsequent 4-2 defeat at Aston Villa set them up for an almighty tie in the play-offs.

Brendan Rodgers' side have dominated again domestically, facing little competition from Rangers for their Scottish Premiership crown.

Celtic Park welcomes the arrival of a bona fide European giant on Wednesday as Bayern Munich come to town. Vincent Kompany's side look poised to reclaim their Bundesliga crown from Bayer Leverkusen with Xabi Alonso's history-makers unsurprisingly struggling to recreate the ludicrous feats of last season. They're eight points clear of the champions at the summit.

There have been more question marks for Bayern in Europe, though, as they ended the league phase tasting defeat in three of their four away games which meant the six-time winners failed to automatically qualify for the round of 16.

Here's 90min's guide to Celtic vs Bayern Munich in the Champions League play-offs.

Celtic vs Bayern Munich head-to-head record (All Games)

Current form (all competitions)

How to watch Celtic vs Bayern Munich on TV - UK and US

Celtic team news

Adam Idah is in impressive scoring form / Nigel French/Allstar/GettyImages

With Kyogo Furuhashi departing for Rennes in January, Adam Idah has taken on much of Celtic's goalscoring burden as of late. The striker has scored four goals in three games and is a certainty to return to Rodgers' XI after earning a rest at the weekend.

The Celtic boss made wholesale changes for Saturday's 5-0 victory over Raith Rovers in the Scottish Cup.

Daizen Maeda scored three at the weekend but he was only utilised because of his Champions League suspension. The forward was sent off on Matchday 7 of the league phase against Young Boys. The returning Jota is in contention to replace the Japan international.

James Forrest is set to miss out with a foot injury, while Paulo Bernardo is a doubt having picked up a knock at the weekend.

Celtic predicted lineup vs Bayern Munich

Celtic predicted lineup vs Bayern (4-3-3): Schmeichel; Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Trusty, Taylor; Engels, McGregor, Hatate; Kuhn, Idah, Yang.

Bayern Munich team news

Harry Kane was typically clinical from the spot last time out for Bayern / Marcel Engelbrecht - firo sportphoto/GettyImages

There was no major rotation from Kompany for Bayern's 3-0 victory over Werder Bremen, but Wednesday's visitors have had plenty of time to rest given that they played on Friday night.

Thus, we shouldn't see many - if any - changes from that XI.

Joao Palhinha hasn't played all that much during his debut campaign and is a doubt through illness. Serge Gnabry was also under the weather on Friday, but Kompany does have Michael Olise and Kingsley Coman to call upon in reserve.

Alphonso Davies is nursing a hamstring injury having recently penned a contract extension in Munich amid uncertainty surrounding his future.

Bayern predicted lineup vs Celtic (4-2-3-1): Neuer; Laimer, Upamecano, Kim, Guerreiro; Kimmich, Pavlovic; Olise, Musiala, Coman; Kane

Celtic's form in front of their own fans helped them into the play-offs but their three home victories came against teams who failed to finish in the top 24. Bayern represent a considerable step up in quality, but this is a team with a soft underbelly.

If Celtic can weather the storms that will come their way and play up to the atmosphere in Glasgow, they've got a chance of securing a result. Bayern's frailties to counter-attacks were laid bare during the league phase at Feyenoord and Aston Villa. Even Slovan Bratislava had some success last month.

Bayern are the understandable favourites, but they can be shackled in hostile environments. The hosts have got a chance.