Celtic faces Bayern in Champions League Knockout
Celtic will play their first Champions League knockout match for 12 years when they welcome German giants, Bayern Munich, to Glasgow today.
The new league phase format in the competition worked wonders for Celtic, but not for Bayern, who face the prospect of not reaching the last 16 of the competition for the first time in over two decades.
With the Champions League only really just getting into the business end, Bayern are already on the brink of making unwanted history, following a disappointing start to their European campaign.
Vincent Kompany’s men have lost three times on the road in the Champions League this season, and Bayern have never lost four away games in a single European campaign before.
A narrow defeat at Aston Villa followed by thrashings at Barcelona and Feyenoord saw Bayern miss out on the top eight and automatic progression to the last 16, despite a perfect home record.
The Bavarians have reached the last 16 in 16 straight Champions League campaigns, with their last failure to do so being the only time they have been eliminated before that stage since the competition’s rebranding when they were knocked out in the group stage in a section containing AC Milan, Deportivo La Coruna and Lens in 2002.
Facing Scottish opposition has been favourable for Bayern over the past few decades, going 13 games unbeaten since a defeat in 1989 at Hearts in the UEFA Cup, and four of those games have been against Celtic.
Bayern won home and away against Celtic in the group stages back in 2017, but were held to a 0-0 draw here in 2003.
Without a win against Bayern in their history, and just one in 21 against past winners of the Champions League, there is little down for the hosts, but they did finally claim a first win against a German club in Europe during the league phase, beating RB Leipzig 3-1 at Celtic Park.
More history needs to be changed if they are to advance here, because Celtic have lost all three knockout ties in the Champions League, with their most recent being a 5-0 aggregate loss to Juventus in 2013.
The Hoops reached the last 16 in back-to-back seasons in 2007 and 2008, but again, European royalty stood in their way, as AC Milan and Barcelona eliminated them, and a similar mountain to climb is ahead of them here.
Celtic boss, Brendan Rodgers, will have in his line-up Japanese, Daizen Maeda, who received a straight red card against Young Boys on matchday seven, this is after an appeal against his two-match ban was successful.
—SportsMole
