Bayern Munich see out resilient Celtic to seal place in UCL round of 16 | OneFootball

On Tuesday evening, Bayern Munich welcomed Scottish champions Celtic to Bavaria, for the second leg of the play-off round in the 24/25 UEFA Champions League.

For the task at hand, Vincent Kompany opted for a lineup of: Neuer - Stanisic, Upamecano, Kim, Guerreiro - Kimmich, Goretzka - Olise, Musiala, Gnabry - Kane.

Bayern lacked finishing prowess against Celtic

After four minutes, Bayern had a good opportunity to take the lead on the night, but Serge Gnabry’s header from point-blank range was saved by Kasper Schmeichel. Michael Olise played a brilliant pass to set up this opportunity.

Just a couple of minutes later, Callum McGregor robbed the French winger of the ball, before bearing down on goal and firing over the bar. Early warning sign for Bayern.

After a quarter of an hour, Jota turned Josip Stanisic inside out, before finding Nicolas Kuhn — his effort beat Manuel Neuer, but was cleared off the line by Raphael Guerreiro. Before the ball was cleared, Arne Engels fired a ball across the six-yard box, but Daezan Maeda could not get on the end of it.

Two minutes later, a stray pass from Dayot Upamecano went to Kuhn, who fed Maeda — whose lobbed finish went wide of Neuer’s post. The first half saw Bayern concede numerous opportunities.

Bayern managed to settle down after a flurry of chances for Celtic and began to create chances of their own. Just before halftime, an effort from Harry Kane smacked the crossbar. 0-0 at the break.

At halftime, Kingsley Coman replaced the England captain, who looked to have picked up a calf injury. The Frenchman should have had an assist immediately after coming on, but Goretzka’s left-footed effort was saved by Schmeichel.

After 63 minutes, Celtic went ahead on the night, and level on aggregate, as Kuhn found the back of the net. Bayern responded by introducing Alphonso Davies and Leroy Sane in place of Guerreiro and Gnabry.

With just over a quarter of an hour to go, Goretzka missed a presentable header after a pinpoint delivery from Joshua Kimmich. The German midfielder could, and probably should have scored twice in the game. Soon after, Sane fired over from inside the box.

The perseverance from Bayern eventually paid off in the added time. After Schmeichel saved a header from Goretzka, Davies reacted faster than anyone to bundle the ball over the line, with basically the last kick of the game.

Massive get out of jail card for Bayern - who rode their luck on several occasions all night. They did create quite a bit, but there are still big question marks from a defensive point of view. They won't go far in the competition defending like that against the top teams. Avoiding an extra 30 minutes was almost more important than the progression itself.