I was critical of Celtic’s naivety in being so open on the visit to Dortmund in October. We do not have the practice, energy (Daizen aside) or experience to go to Germany and win an open game. Lessons were learned and when we travelled to Atalanta three weeks later, we stopped Italy’s second top scoring team from hitting the net. The humiliation in Dortmund was our only defeat until after qualification for the playoff round was achieved.
A two-legged knockout round is different from a league game. We are unlikely to defend our way through 180 minutes and eliminate the team who have scored 35% more goals than anyone else in the Bundesliga. We need an attacking game at home and we have earned the right to do so with some confidence.
Expectations are also important. We are not going to win the Champions League. Instead, we will exit the tournament at the hands of a side who are worthy of respect (Bayern of otherwise). So what is there to lose? Sporting and Brest both lost 0-3 last night, results which will not move the dial on the trajectory of their seasons. A reversal tonight would change little for Celtic.
One of the world’s great teams comes to Celtic Park tonight; let’s see how they cope.
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An Dun
I agree with you. For me an Atalanta type performance and then having a wee go in the final 15 minutes like we did v Man U and Milan all those years ago.
Rinse and repeat over there with even more energised Maeda power.
Dortmund,Brugge,and The Darnel pressed Calum McGregor.
He couldn’t cope and we really struggled to be able to outplay the press.
I’m hoping that BR can mix it up and for us not to rely so heavily on Calum.
If you stop Calum ,you stop Celtic .
TT
Burnley78
I hope your recovery is going well ,and that the pit belts fill your heart to bursting point tonight.
TT
AN TEARMANN on 12TH FEBRUARY 2025 3:13 PM
Cheers! Enjoy.
Lot’s of hope in my heart but of course, hope is not a strategy, I assume BR has a plan B ;o)
Translated from the Sportschau website (main public broadcaster):
Kompany warns against Celtic and hopes they can learn their lesson
12/02/2025 08:24
A difficult task awaits FC Bayern Munich in the first leg of the Champions League play-off at Celtic Glasgow. Coach Vincent Kompany has already had his bitter experience in the historic stadium, and his players will have to get to work on Wednesday.
FC Bayern Munich have a tough task ahead of them on Wednesday. Manuel Neuer, Harry Kane and Co. can expect an atmosphere at historic Celtic Park that could lead to ‘nervousness’, as Manuel Neuer said at the press conference on Tuesday evening ahead of the first leg of the Champions League play-off. ‘But we know that’ and we can prepare for that, said the FCB captain. Celtic Glasgow would be an ‘aggressive’ team for Munich. ‘They attack aggressively, we have to break through the pressing and play attacking football,’ was the motto for the Champions League clash.
Kompany was already at Celtic Park as a 17-year-old
Manuel Neuer and Vincent Kompany have already had a chance to familiarise themselves with the Scots. At the press conference on the eve of the match, the FCB goalkeeper and his coach faced questions from the local press. The two appeared relaxed. The atmosphere in the stadium on Wednesday was likely to be less relaxed. Celtic Park is known for its loud fan choirs and enthusiastic atmosphere. Vincent Kompany has also experienced this.
He took to the pitch with RSC Anderlecht in November 2003 as a 17-year-old player and, looking back, admits to having approached the game too naively. ‘It was an exciting experience, we had won convincingly at home with ten men. I came here at the age of 17 full of confidence as a young lad – and the reality was completely different,’ said Kompany. ‘We lost 5-0 and could have lost even more.’
Kompany warns players: ‘They are used to winning’
Kompany speaks from experience when he warns his players about Celtic: ‘They are a team that is used to winning.’ The coach is hoping to learn important lessons from the painful Champions League defeats, such as the 3-0 loss at Feyenoord Rotterdam. ‘My hope is that we turn these moments into key moments so that we can make progress as a team,’ said the Munich coach.
FCB sporting director Max Eberl also believes in learning from these moments: Eberl sees ‘that we are going through a bit of a development as a club and as a team. We have grown as a team in the games, most recently against Bremen.’ Bayern can reach the next stage of their development on Wednesday – if they manage to defeat the strong Scots at Celtic Park. ‘It will be emotional, it will be loud for Celtic,’ said Eberl.
I’m getting very nervous now.
Do us proud if you’re going
No seen as many polis vans since the Miners Strike, fkn ridiculous here
CHAIRBHOY @ 12.59
Not long now place is buzzing.
First time in ages it’s difficult to guess the Brendan front three with Kyogo away.
Reckon he’ll start with Kuhn, Idah and Maeda in his normal position, because we need his tracking power on the left, crucial against better sides.
Why are you so good Bayern? – we’re about to find out.
From the ZDF website, the other main national broadcaster:
‘Bhoy on the wing’ is the name of the song that the fans of Celtic Glasgow have dedicated to their German star Nicolas Kühn. ‘Bhoy on the wing’ is to be understood in a double sense.
Because the 25-year-old prefers to fire up his turbo on the right wing – and he does indeed seem to be growing wings since moving to Scotland 13 months ago.
Kühn via St. Pauli and Hanover to Leipzig
If you had asked the very young Kühn which club he would one day realise his dream of playing in the Champions League with, he would probably never have come up with Celtic. Much closer to him than the combative Scottish football was the delicate Spanish football, which he got to know on holiday in Barcelona. FC Barcelona is said to have already had the 14-year-old talent on their radar.
It was the time when the hunt for younger and younger talent really took off. Kühn, who was born on 1 January 2000 in Wunstorf, Lower Saxony, had already played in the youth centres of FC St. Pauli and Hannover 96 when Ralf Rangnick brought him into the RB Leipzig talent factory in 2015. The tabloids labelled him a ‘super-boy’ at the time.
Unfulfilled hopes: Via Amsterdam to FC Bayern
Although Leipzig’s strict transitional football suited Kühn’s speed, his technical skills, sense of space, rhythm and ball skills were less in demand.
On the Ajax Amsterdam campus, Kühn then flourished again so much that in 2019 he not only received the DFB’s Fritz Walter Medal as best U19 player, but also sparked the interest of Bayern Munich.
Players like Josip Stanisic, Joshua Zirkzee or Jamal Musiala were supposed to make the leap into the Bundesliga via Bayern Munich’s second team. Kühn, also set back by an injury, did not make it and was loaned to second division club Aue.
Rough edges: Via Aue and Vienna to Glasgow
…
‘Bayern can’t experiment so much, there’s simply not enough time,’ Kühn told Sportbild. ‘Then, like me, you have to take a step back and hope that you get a chance somewhere else.’ That chance came first at Rapid Vienna, where he regularly played at a high level. And now at Celtic, where he has matured mentally and physically and continues to realise his full potential.
For many young footballers in Germany, the career dream ends in a dead end or they have to take a long diversions. Other countries show how it can be done better.
Kühn has scored ten goals and provided six assists in the Premiership so far this season. In the Champions League, he sent his former club RB Leipzig out of Celtic Park with two goals.
An experience he is keen to repeat against another former club:
“I’m thrilled about the draw and I’m motivated to the max.”
Nicolas Kühn
Kühn recently revealed to Bild am Sonntag what kind of atmosphere awaits Bayern. ‘The Bayern players have experienced a lot, but this will top it all.’
Kühn has his sights firmly set on the World Cup in the USA
His further development has been monitored in Munich. ‘You can already tell that he’s made himself at home in Glasgow,’ says sporting director Max Eberl.
The direct duel also offers Kühn the best stage to put his name even higher on the list of national coach Julian Nagelsmann, who is said to have him in mind for the next international matches in March.
I know that I have the quality for the national team and I make no secret of the fact that I dream of the 2026 World Cup in the USA.
‘But there’s no other way than to keep working hard, scoring goals and preparing.’ If he manages to do that on Wednesday, his chances of moving to the Premier League next season should also grow. According to media reports, several clubs want to lure him there in the summer.
Watching Real Madrid last night they were not afraid to mix their tactics they played quite a lot of long balls as well as playing from the back. Madrid’s goalie played many high punts into the opposition half which was refreshing to see. Perhaps Celtic could follow this example and mix things up for a change, if mighty Madrid do it why not Celtic, it worked. Hoping Celtic give a good performance tonight, it’s cup football and perhaps we can shock the cocky Germans like Leipzig.
Jota Daizen Khun
Hatate Calmac Engels
Taylor Trusty CCV AJ
Kasper
===========
Hopefully this is the team we start with
We will need speed and creativity up front and that gives us it in spades
We can bring on idah and move daizen out left later on when jota tires
Anyone heard anything about Barnardo, saw (on here) that he had a moon boot on yesterday
Starting XI: Schmeichel, Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Trusty, Taylor, McGregor (c), Engels, Hatate, Kuhn, Maeda, Idah
Subs: Sinisalo, Bain, Scales, Jota, Yang, McCowan, Schlupp, Nawrocki, Kenny, Murray, Ralston
Fact is, when we have control of the game, which we will have in phases, we will create chances.
Need to try and take the better of them.
Other than than how about concentrate for ninety minutes right from the whistle…….
CELTIC: Schmeichel, Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Trusty, Taylor, Hatate, Engels, McGregor (C), Kühn, Maeda, Idah
Subs: Sinisalo, Bain, Scales, Jota, Yang, McCowan, Schlupp, Nawrocki, Kenny, Murray, Ralston
Barnardo not on the bench
Experienced players we have there that can make a difference offensively
McCowan, Schlupp, Jota,
Not as much experience
Yang, Kenny
Get into zee germans Celtic!!!!!!!!!
Adam Idah has earned his place. I’m hopeful he starts.
T
Just keep it tight and compact for the first 15 of each half
No cheap early goals pls!
live updates imminent
BOURNESOUPRECIPE @ 5:49 PM,
Spot on with the front three gives us options off the bench.
COYBIG
Hail Hail
hold , hold
everyone furiously refreshing the home page…
live updates now up
live updates up