Bayern Munich vs Celtic LIVE: Team information and line-ups from Champions League play-off conflict
Sign up to Miguel Delaney’s Reading the Game newsletter sent straight to your inbox for free
Sign up to Miguel’s Delaney’s free weekly newsletter
Sign up to Miguel’s Delaney’s free weekly newsletter
Bayern Munich host Celtic in the second leg of their Champions League play-off tie with a slim advantage after the German side triumphed 2-1 in the first leg at Celtic Park.
Michael Olise’s 45th minute finish put Bayern ahead away from home and England captain Harry Kane doubled their advantage four minutes later. The Bundesliga leaders looked to be cruising into the last-16 but a goal from Celtic’s Daizen Maeda cut the deficit and gives some hope to Brendan Rodgers side.
There is a slim chance the Scottish side can overturn the deficit and make it into the next round but they have yet to win away from home in this Champions League campaign. In comparison, Bayern have won their last seven home games across all competitions and will be confident of making it through the tie.
Follow all the latest updates from the Champions League with our live blog below:
Celtic line-up vs Bayern
Celtic XI: Schmeichel, Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Trusty, Schlupp, McGregor, Engels, Hatate, Kuhn, Jota, Maeda
‘The goal is to win’
Bayern Munich hold a one-goal lead in this tie and Vincent Kompany hopes to extend that by leading this team to victory in Munich.
He said: “My first thought is never about ‘what happens if…’
“My thought is always that we can win something. We won at Celtic Park, which doesn’t happen often; very few teams manage that.
“That was also the goal in Leverkusen and is again tomorrow. I’m not thinking about anything else, except whether we can perform to our best.”
Pre-match thoughts from Bayern coach Vincent Kompany
At his pre-match press conference yesterday the Bayern boss said: “Celtic have done really well so far in the Champions League.
“They can always be a threat. But we won at Celtic Park and earned a point in Leverkusen.
“When results are good, that gives you extra strength, and that should help us tomorrow.”
Musiala on draw with Leverkusen
Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen played out a 0-0 draw in the Bundesliga at the weekend in what was a clash at the top of the table.
Despite not winning the crucial match, Jamal Musiala says Bayern took lessons from the game.
He said: “We’ve had a lot of possession this season so we hadn’t had something like against Leverkusen, where we needed to defend a lot.
“It was a good experience. You need to do something like that at some point, and we can learn from it. And we can take it into the games to come.
“We didn’t have our best day, but we still didn’t lose. That’s a good sign for the team.”
‘It won’t be an easy game’
“It won’t be an easy game,” said Bayern midfielder Jamal Musiala ahead of the match.
“We saw how it was in Glasgow. We need to prepare well, need to make sure we’re fresh and mentally ready.
“We need to be 100% on it, start well and don’t let up, and then hope we can win.”
Rodgers on facing Bayern Munich
“It is a challenge at this level. But it’s something that we want to embrace, that challenge,” Brendan Rodgers said about tonight’s second leg.
“We’ve done very well to get to this point. When you get to this point, you want to play top-level teams. This is a team that has world-class players.
“I think it’s just spelling out that you come to this level and you have to play without any fear.
“I think there’s worse things in life that can happen than losing a game of football. So for us, we want to ensure that when we come in after the game, if we don’t go through, we’ve given it absolutely everything.”
Brendan Rodgers wants Celtic to ‘play without fear’ against Bayern Munich
Rodgers’ side have travelled to Germany 2-1 down in the Champions League knockout phase play-off but Daizen Maeda’s late goal at Parkhead has given the Hoops fans a glimmer of hope.
Celtic are in the knockout rounds for the first time in 12 years and Rodgers feels the pressure is off ahead of their second leg at the Allianz Arena.
When are the next rounds played?
The last-16 ties will be played across the weeks of 4/5 and 11/12 March.
The round after that is the quarter-finals, which are played in April, with the semi-finals taking place in late April and early May.
This season, the final will be held on 31 May 2025, at Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena.
The full dates for the next round are as follows:
Round of 16: 4/5 & 11/12 March 2025
Quarter-finals: 8/9 & 15/16 April 2025
Semi-finals: 29/30 April & 6/7 May 2025
Final: 31 May 2025
Who else could be in the draw?
There will obviously be another eight sides in the draw for the round of 16, and these will be the eight sides who are victorious in the knockout round play-off ties.
The second legs of those ties happen this week, with the first four taking place today.
Here are the scores across those eight matches going into the second leg:
AC Milan 0-1 Feyenoord
Benfica 1-0 Monaco
Atalanta 1-2 Club Brugge
Bayern Munich 2-1 Celtic
Dortmund 3-0 Sporting CP
Real Madrid 3-2 Man City
PSG 3-0 Brest
PSV 1-2 Juventus
