When your luck isn’t with you, then it just isn’t as Celtic found out against Bayern Munich on Wednesday night.
Celtic suffered a 2-1 defeat to Bayern in the first leg of their playoff clash in the Champions League, including Nicolas Kuhn’s first-minute strike ruled out for offside.
The correct call was made, but if you rewind back to the league phase and the win over Young Boys, the same thing happened, with several goals chalked off and that lack of luck continued to the knockout stages.
The on-field referee – Jesus Gil Manzano – and his team weren’t forced to make any big calls in the first half, but they were tested after the break.
After Harry Kane had scored for Bayern, the home team claimed a penalty following a challenge from Dayot Upamecano on Arne Engels.
The Bayern man, who was awarded the Man of the Match award by UEFA, stamped on Engels’ foot when trying to win the ball on the edge of the box.
Eventually, nothing was given, as that call resulted in Jamie Carragher changing his mind.
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Micah Richards and Jamie Carragher agree on Arne Engels’ penalty call after Bayern Munich beat Celtic
Usually, when referees go to their monitor, everyone automatically presumes that the opposite decision is going to be made.
But, in this case, referee Manzano, after discussion with his VAR team, stuck by his call and waved the Celtic shouts away.
Former Manchester City defender Micah Richards explained how his fellow pundit and former Liverpool defender Carragher ‘initially’ thought it was a penalty.
But the duo then saw ‘one conclusive angle’, which changed his mind and they agreed that Upamecano ‘got the ball first’ and it wasn’t a penalty, as he told CBS Sports on Paramount+ (12/02/25 at 10:10 pm).
“You initially thought this was a pen, Jamie,” said Richards. “But there is one angle, one conclusive angle where you see that he gets the ball first.”
Carragher responded: “VAR got involved, didn’t they? We thought it was going to be a penalty, more often than not it is when the referee goes to have a look at it.
“But this time, Upamecano, the decision goes his way.”
Engels has a message for Celtic after Bayern defeat
Yes, Bayern are now clear favourites and you expect them to go through from here because Celtic will have to end the German giant’s unbeaten home record to progress.
But, as Engels told BBC Sport, this isn’t a time to be afraid because he is seeing the positive side.
“That’s also a crazy thing here at Celtic Park,” said Engels. “You have a 12th man behind you that pushes you forward.
“You see always, even the big teams like Bayern Munich, also get difficulties. But it’s a positive feeling that we have and we just need to keep on going. Keep on pushing and don’t be afraid of something.
“We can match the game of Bayern and that’s the most important thing.”
Celtic can’t start like they did in Dortmund on match week two or against Villa during the final match of the league phase.
Keep Bayern at bay for those opening 45 minutes in the second leg and then things could get very interesting in the second half of that contest.
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