Celtic face Bayern Munich in the second leg of the Champions League playoff places at the Allianz Arena tomorrow night.
The Bhoys lost to Bayern 2-1 in the first leg at Celtic Park last Wednesday but Brendan Rodgers’ side does have a glimmer of hope of making the 16 of UEFA’s top tournament.
At 2-0 down, Celtic looked out of it. That was until Daizen Maeda popped up to score his fourth Champions League career goal and allow Rodgers to take a one-goal deficit back to Germany on Tuesday night.
With Celtic fans now allowed to attend the away tie at the Allianz Arena, Bayern Munich’s Joshua Kimmich has shared how the Hoops fans inside Parkhead last Wednesday spooked his teammates towards the end of the game.
Joshua Kimmich admits Bayern Munich ‘lost a bit of control’ because of Celtic fans
Kimmich told The Mirror [print edition page 62], “We managed to keep the crowd quiet but towards the end, it did get really loud, we lost a bit of control and immediately the fans were there.
“It’s always difficult to control a game completely for 95 minutes, and very hard to do at Celtic.
“I felt the 2-1 was a little unnecessary but it was very important to defend until the very end.
“We know how important it is to avoid mistakes in the Champions League.
“We’ve learned that in our previous away games and you can see we’ve taken steps forward, there’s been a learning curve.”
What Harry Kane said about Celtic fans after Bayern Munich defeat
Celtic fans are known the world over for the intimidating atmosphere they create in big European ties and in the Glasgow Derby.
Many teams crumble when they hear the roar of the Hoops support over the Champions League music at Celtic Park and for Bayern star, Harry Kane, it was no different.
Speaking after Celtic’s late fightback against Bayern, Kane said, “Yes, it was tough.
“We knew to start the game that they were going to have a bit of momentum. Obviously, they scored within a minute, but thankfully, it got disallowed.
“But the crowd were up and we had to bide our time. We had to be patient. I thought we did that. We scored at a really good time, just before the half, just to settle the nerves a little bit. Then, again after half-time to score that quickly, it put us in control.
“The last 20 minutes, we struggled a little bit, they put the pressure on and the crowd got behind them. They got the goal and we were holding on at the end.
“Overall, we can be happy, it was a good win away from home and we go next week to the Allianz and, hopefully, we can get through.”
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