Brendan Rodgers has some big calls to make as Celtic prepare for the trip to Munich.
Celtic were beaten 2-1 by Bayern in the first leg and now they face an almighty task to remain in this season’s Champions League.
One thing that can’t be argued is that Celtic have a fighting chance and Daizen Maeda’s goal has left things interesting for the return leg.
The only issue is that you face a Bayern Munich side that have only lost once at home this season – to Bayer Leverkusen in the German Cup – but have only dropped points once in the Bundesliga and have a 100% record in Europe.
So, in that sense, life is much tougher for the champions of Scotland, but this is Europe’s elite competition and nothing is supposed to be easy.
One of the big calls Rodgers has to make is what will be the make-up of his front three, especially with Jota adding to his fitness at the weekend.
Celtic beat Dundee United 3-0 and the returning Portuguese star got on the scoresheet to perhaps send another signal to Rodgers that he is ready to start such a huge game against Bayern Munich.
Celtic told to start Jota against Bayern Munich
Forget about the return leg, Stiliyan Petrov wanted Jota to start at Celtic Park and he now wants the same to happen in Bavaria.
The legendary midfielder explained how Jota, Maeda down the middle and Nicolas Kuhn on the right flank is ‘perfect’.
But Petrov explained on the Warm-Up how Rodgers might feel that Jota ‘isn’t ready’, from a fitness standpoint, to start a game of that level yet because it’s a different world compared to the domestic teams in Scotland.
“I even called it before the game (first-leg) they think it would be a possibility of Jota, Maeda and Kuhn starting together,” said Petrov.
“That would have been perfect. We don’t know how fit Jota is. Maybe Brendan thought he isn’t ready for that level yet. He doesn’t have the match fitness. But I would definitely start him (in Munich).
“As soon as he come on, he picks the ball up. You have certain players in a team and I loved playing with wingers who had pace. If you are in trouble, then that’s what you look for. That’s what you look for. You just get it out there. They go one-v-one and Jota just loves taking people on.
“As soon as you have somebody to take you up the pitch, then everything goes up the pitch.”
What Jota has said about Celtic’s second leg vs Bayern Munich in the Champions League
You wonder how Rodgers will approach this match and if he will go at Bayern’s throat from the get-go.
You can’t win the game in the opening 20 minutes, but you can certainly lose it and if Celtic start like they did in Dortmund and Villa Park, then it will definitely be game over before you can blink.
“100% (we believe it’s possible to win in Munich),” said Jota. “We go there to fight and we know it’s going to be a very difficult challenge. Bayern Munich is one of the best teams in the world.
“But I think, everybody could see in the last game, that we could do very interesting stuff and we go there with the same mentality.
“To do good things. To look for the result and, hopefully, to get the win.”
But whatever the outcome of this match, and many are hoping it’s much better than the last trip to Germany, then one thing needs to be remembered, and that’s the team has made progress in Europe.
Reaching the knockout stages of the Champions League is proof of that, it’s just about making this a long-term thing now.
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