Celtic will not play in the Champions League as Brendan Rodgers prepares for the Europa League this season.
Celtic’s defeat to Kairat Almaty on penalties consigned the Hoops to Europe’s second-tier competition and the reverberations of that Champions League exit are still being felt.
However, for Harry Kane, he will be delighted that he won’t be facing the Bhoys after his pre-match comments this week.
As Bayern Munich prepare to face Chelsea in their Champions League opener at the Allianz Arena, Kane sent his teammates a Celtic warning.
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Harry Kane admits playing Celtic in the Champions League was ‘stressful’ for Bayern Munich
Kane faced Celtic twice last season and despite Bayern Munich squeezing into the last 16, clearly facing the Parkhead club has left a burning impression on the England striker.
Kane told Ludwigshafen 24, “It’s important to be among the top eight because these extra playoff games make a huge difference to the season.”
“The game against Celtic was our most stressful time.
“Those extra games came in the middle of important Bundesliga weeks with Leverkusen and Frankfurt. That put a huge strain on us.
“It shows the additional strain of playing in the play-offs. That’s why it’s important to get off to a good start.”
What Harry Kane said when Celtic gave Bayern Munich a fright
Celtic were within one minute of taking Bayern Munich to extra time in the Champions League last season.
Alphonso Davies popped up with the last kick of the ball to ensure Celtic exited the Champions League with Bayern Munich knowing that they were in a tie.
Kane said at the time, “I thought with the ball we were a little careless, we made too many mistakes and we were punished for that.
“Without the ball, the intensity and pressing was perhaps also not too high. It was not that that the boys didn’t try but sometimes it’s a mixture of situations.
“We have to do this quickly and find out on Sunday. It was an important game against a good team that hurt us in the first leg on the counter-attack quite a lot but with the right mindset and more intensity hopefully, we play with that intensity again for the rest of the season.”
It’s great to see that eight months on from that double-header, facing Celtic still plays on Kane’s mind.
It’s just a shame that Brendan Rodgers’ side won’t get the chance to sample football amongst Europe’s elite this season.
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