Stiliyan Petrov explains what ‘frightened’ Bayern Munich about Celtic

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Bayern Munich had Celtic’s number for 70 or so minutes in last night’s Champions League clash.

Michael Olise had taken advantage of Greg Taylor to open the scoring before Harry Kane doubled his side’s lead after the break.

That’s when Brendan Rodgers earned his corn with substitutions as he put Daizen Maeda through the middle and brought on Yang and Jota to make an impact.

The pair did just that but it was Maeda who turned the tide in the Hoops’ favour at 2-1 Bayern as he headed in to reduce the deficit and keep the tie alive heading to Germany next week.

For TNT Sports pundit and ex-Celtic man Stiliyan Petrov, Maeda was the difference-maker as he “frightened” Bayern’s stars who had began to take their foot off the gas.

As the German side tired, Maeda came into his own and his pressing almost resulted in another goal when Manuel Neuer was spooked into a poor touch.

That showed to Petrov that Maeda was the key and his energy and work rate surprised their opponents.

• READ MORE: Harry Kane makes claim about Celtic fans after scoring for Bayern Munich at Parkhead

Daizen Maeda ‘frightened’ Bayern Munich, says Petrov

“Maeda never stopped, the way he started the first minute, he finished in the 96th minute,” Stan said.

“He kept pressing and going through the middle I think that kind of, a little bit frightened Bayern.

“Because all of a sudden, after 70 minutes you get tired mentally and physically.

“But when you see someone who is willing to chase, trying to make a difference, it just gives you that lift and you have to go for it because in the end you’ve got a gameplan.

“You know if you don’t get a goal and you don’t get anything from the game, it will be much more difficult in the return leg.”

Celtic can upset the apple cart at Bayern Munich in second-leg

It wasn’t quite to be for Celtic who did lose the match.

But they won’t be too disheartened as manager Rodgers explained at full-time.

James McFadden believes Celtic can upset the odds next week in the Allianz Arena if things go their way while Owen Hargreaves has also backed them to spring a surprise so long as they battle hard as they did in the final 20 minutes of last night’s action.

Nicolas Kuhn was unfortunate to have a goal ruled out after Adam Idah’s “pointless” run while Arne Engels on another night might have had a penalty.