Bayern Strikes in 94th Minute to End Celtic Champions League Journey
Source:Â http://richportaltv.com
Bayern Munich’s goal in the 94th minute denied Celtic a spectacular triumph in Germany and snatched a 3-2 aggregate victory, bringing their Champions League journey to an agonizing end.
Just after the hour, Nicolas Kuhn took advantage of Kim Min-jae’s mistake to give Brendan Rodgers’ team a shocking lead, putting Celtic ahead 2-1 following the first leg of the play-off round at Parkhead.
That followed a first half in which England captain Harry Kane struck the crossbar before being replaced at halftime, and Celtic missed four good chances to score—Kuhn, Callum McGregor, and Daizen Maeda twice coming close.
However, after the interval, Maeda raced forward and sent the ball to Kuhn, who exploited Kim’s hesitation to get past Manuel Neuer, ensuring Celtic would not be denied.
Stunned into action, Bayern attempted to equalize. Leroy Sane fired a shot just past the post, Joshua Kimmich forced Kasper Schmeichel to make a wonderful save, and Leon Goretzka nodded wide.
Eventually, with extra time in sight, Celtic gave up with the final kick of the match after being unable to escape their own half and counter Vincent Kompany’s team.
Michael Olise’s cross was met by Goretzka, whose header was brilliantly saved by Schmeichel. The ball dropped in front of the empty goal, and Cameron Carter-Vickers’ attempts to clear were thwarted by Alphonso Davies, who bundled it over the line.
Football is so often a cruel game, and it was hard not to feel for the Celtic players who lay dejectedly on the turf as their Bayern counterparts ran to the corner celebrating, and no doubt breathing a huge sigh of relief.
All the fight and resolve that they had shown for almost 180 minutes had been sapped from them by the scrappiest, ugliest of goals.
The Scottish champions hustled harried, and stood up when tested. Schmeichel added more saves to his highlights reel, while his defense headed, blocked, and cleared almost everything that came at them.
There were chances. McGregor blazed over in the first half when he should have hit the target. Kuhn had one cleared off the line before his cross to the back post missed Maeda by a matter of inches.
They forced another opportunity when Dayot Upamecano sliced a pass. Kuhn played in Maeda with Neuer off his line, but the Japanese forward chipped wide.
There is a German saying—coming close is also missing it. It feels harsh to be critical given the monumental effort Celtic produced, but they needed to be more clinical.
They were less than a minute from extra time, and who knows what would have happened then? Perhaps more cruelty and dejection. Perhaps immortality among the Celtic annals for years to come.
Although they return to Glasgow beaten, they return with pride.
The team that was thrashed in Dortmund a few months ago does not look like this one. They appear to be developing further and have reached a significant level of maturity.
Bayern would have been pleased with the draw even though Celtic has been dominating domestically and performed well in the Champions League group stage.
They will simply be relieved to have survived an intense scare following two harrowing experiences.
You do not shoot 23 shots, 10 of which are on goal, without pushing your opponents on the ropes, and they did occasionally pin Celtic back.
But the longer it went, the more doubts started to grow as to whether the Bundesliga leaders had an answer. Ultimately, they did.
The Celtic goal rocked them. They were forced into near-fatal errors and made more mistakes than they have made in any Champions League game this season.
Their weaknesses were exposed, but having pulled through, Kompany can now gird his loins. He knows where he needs to improve, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see this team go to the final.