Bayern v Celtic Tips: Use Betfair Build-Ups to back 9/2 Maeda to outshoot Sane | OneFootball

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Bayern Munich v CelticTuesday 18th February, 20:00

Match Ups - Maeda to have more shots on target than Sane

Celtic head to Bavaria this evening tasked with chasing down a 2-1 deficit from their Champions League Play-Off against Bayern Munich, though that noun is banned in the Hoops dressing room.

The Glasgow giant have been guilty before of 'chasing' an opening loss in Europe only to become horribly undone.

"We have to be clever," Brendan Rodgers insisted in his presser yesterday, going on to state how critical it is that the underdogs take their few opportunities when they arise. Going gung-ho won't cut it. Going gung-ho will see them picked off at will.

All the same, Rodgers could have 11 Einsteins on the pitch and they would still face an uphill task. Bayern may have encountered the odd blip in the tournament to date but they put nine past Dinamo Zagreb and saw off PSG. Moreover, they possess Harry Kane, scorer of nine goals in ten in 2025.

Where the visitors may get some joy is via the energetic wing-play of Daizen Maeda, the Japanese international repeatedly making an impact in the Champions League this term. He has bagged four in eight outings, including a close range header versus Bayern at Celtic Park last week.

The 27-year-old will be a danger for sure and this leads us to selecting a Betfair Build Up, pitting the attacker against his opposite number Leroy Sane. On this occasion, shots on target feels like the wisest category to opt for.

Player vs Player

As the graph above illustrates, the former Manchester City flyer has taken on ten more attempts on goal in the tournament than Maeda, from having played only one game more.

Yet with a slightly underwhelming shot accuracy of 37.1% across 2024/25, Sane is outperforming in the Champions League, compared to his output in the Bundesliga. Nine of his 21 attempts have troubled the goalkeeper and that equates to 42.8%.

Is this sustainable? Possibly not because it simply makes no sense why a player would be consistently more clinical in one tournament over another.

And should Sane's numbers dip that opens the door for Maeda to outfire him in Munich, just like he did in the first leg, in Glasgow. There, Maeda accrued one SOT and another that was wayward. Sane didn't manage any attempt at all.

Crucially too, the Celtic man is a player in form.

In addition to his Champions League exploits, he boasts 10 goal involvements in eight in the Scottish Premiership. Indeed, since Boxing Day, across all comps, the winger has either scored or assisted every 62 minutes.