Micah Richards says ‘the game changed’ when Celtic star was subbed off against Bayern Munich

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When Nicolas Kuhn opened the scoring for Celtic against Bayern Munich, the unthinkable was happening.

Before this two-legged Champions League playoff clash began, many were predicting for Celtic to be on the end of a pasting and possible big defeat.

But, for a team of Bayern’s calibre to be taken right until the end over 180 minutes, including forcing them to score a stoppage-time equaliser proves what a monumental effort Brendan Rodgers and the team put in.

For large proportions of the match, Celtic were getting on the ball at the right times, competing without the ball and creating enough chances to score.

The one big disappointment would be that, before Kuhn scored after the hour mark, the Bhoys should have been further ahead and the tie would have been out of sight.

But Alphonso Davies was allowed to punish Celtic with seconds left on the clock, as Micah Richards feels the damage was done just before that.

READ MORE: What Brendan Rodgers told his Celtic players inside the Allianz Arena after Bayern Munich draw

Micah Richards says ‘the game changed’ when Nicolas Kuhn was subbed off for Celtic against Bayern Munich

Just like against RB Leipzig, Kuhn scored against another one of his former sides and he was a constant threat on that right-hand side.

But, in the 69th minute, he appeared to pick up a knock and he was replaced by Hyunjun Yang.

Richards thinks ‘the game changed’ with that forced substitution because ‘anything good’ came from the German’s side, as he told CBS Sports on Paramount+ (18/02/25 at 10:10 pm).

“They started really well,” said Richards. “They sat a little bit deep, then played through the lines on that transition.

“This is just unlucky for Kuhn. He had to come off. The game changed really when he came off. But anything good came down his side from Kuhn.  It wasn’t meant to be and if you don’t score your chances, then you get punished.”

Richards praises Kasper Schmeichel after apologising to Celtic star

As some may have seen, Richards recently apologised to Kasper Schmeichel for backing him to be dropped for Joe Hart when they were playing with each other at Manchester City

But, after Celtic’s Champions League exit, he was full of praise for the man in between the sticks and his ‘top draw’ performance in Bavaria.

“He was amazing, Kasper,” said Richards. “He was top draw – nine big saves throughout the game. I thought he was outstanding.”

Celtic’s number one made a total of nine saves during the match, but many of them were from distance and weren’t too troubling.

And when that Davies goal came about, he did everything he could to initially keep out Leon Goretzka’s header, only for luck to be against him.