Chris Sutton is usually one of the first Celtic legends to provide some instant analysis after watching the Hoops play.
That was no different for the Sky Sports pundit on Tuesday evening after taking in Celtic’s heartbreaking draw with Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
Brendan Rodgers’ heroic Bhoys put in a marvellous performance but ultimately were knocked out 3-2 on aggregate after a very late Alphonso Davies goal at the Allianz Arena.
Sutton tweeted after the game that Celtic were ‘absolutely outstanding’ while also labelling the Hoops ‘bold and brave’ against the German giants.
But he felt Celtic did not boast a strong enough bench to keep Bayern Munich at bay and pointed towards the £10m sale of Kyogo.
Now, Sutton has delivered a more detailed analysis of Celtic’s aggregate defeat to Bayern Munich on the Daily Mail’s ‘It’s All Kicking Off!’ podcast.
Chris Sutton delivers in-depth Bayern Munich 1-1 Celtic analysis
Sutton hailed Celtic’s maturity, game management and being able to balance both defending and attacking at one of Europe’s most formidable grounds.
He felt ‘sick’ for the Celtic players after Davies’ goal went in and stressed they did not deserve to go out of the competition in that cruel fashion.
Sutton then reiterated his point about Celtic’s bench needing to be stronger before admitting disappointment that the Hoops will need to navigate a qualifying play-off round next season to reach the Champions League league phase.
Sutton said: “I felt sick for the players. Just based on the way that they went to Munich. The expectation at Bayern Munich at the start of the season is to win the Bundesliga, win the Champions League, to win everything – that is just the expectation.
“To then watch Celtic, who for the first 45 minutes of the game at Celtic Park were thoroughly outplayed then got a bit of confidence after 2-0 down strangely enough, finish the game strongly in the last 25 minutes – maybe they got confidence from that.
“But the balance they played with – everything this season for Celtic was always going to be judged on the Champions League.
“For this Celtic team to go and play with maturity, balance, carry a threat and create the better chances – in the first half especially – speak volumes about how far the club have come on.
“That is a testament to Brendan Rodgers who first took over at Celtic and was really successful domestically but was always viewed in Europe as too gung-ho and only having that approach.
“But I thought they played with real composure, balance and mixed the game at a whirlwind. Played through Bayern Munich from deep at times but also, their game understanding and missing out the midfield and going direct into the front guys.
“I thought they were really impressive, they didn’t deserve it to end that way. It would have only gone to extra-time and being honest, Bayern Munich last 15-20 minutes, Celtic maybe ran out of legs a little bit.
“One thing to look at is maybe Celtic could have had a stronger bench or if they want to really kick on, that is something to consider, trying to strengthen the squad. But all things being equal, it is now a foothold in the Champions League.
“But the sad thing in many ways is that Celtic need to go through a qualifier at the start of the next season. It was a brilliant campaign and a lot to be excited about. And we can be excited.”
Why can’t Celtic qualify automatically for Champions League league phase next season?
Put simply, it all comes down to Scotland’s coefficient ranking.
Scotland moved down the UEFA country leaderboard and it means an automatic Champions League qualification spot for the league phase has been taken away.
Celtic need to win the Premiership title again this season to reach the qualifying play-off round, which is looking likely given they are 13 points ahead of Rangers.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 1 |  CelticCeltic | 26 | 22 | 3 | 1 | 76 | 12 | 64 | 69 |
| 2 |  RangersRangers | 26 | 17 | 5 | 4 | 54 | 20 | 34 | 56 |
| 3 |  AberdeenAberdeen | 26 | 11 | 5 | 10 | 34 | 39 | -5 | 38 |
| 4 |  Dundee UtdDundee Utd | 26 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 32 | 31 | 1 | 37 |
Scotland are currently the highest ranked nation, however, for the projected qualifying play-off draw – which means Celtic will likely be favourites to win the two-legged tie.
Things could change but some of the teams they could face are Ferencvaros, Olympiacos, FC Copenhagen, Bodo/Glimt, Sturm Graz and more.
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