Charlie Christie - Celtic showed they can take on the best in Europe after pushing Bayern Munich all the way in the Champions League
There can be no denying that Celtic’s midweek performance against Bavarian giants Bayern Munich was one of the finest I’ve seen from a Scottish team in Europe for quite some time.
I sat down to watch the match fully expecting a comfortable win for Vincent Kompany’s side after the domination they had shown at Parkhead a week earlier but was pleasantly surprised by the problems Celtic gave Bayern as the Glasgow side created not one but three gilt edged chances in the first 20 minutes of the game.
It is not often you see a team of Bayern’s stature so flustered, and they created little in that opening period which allowed the Celtic players to grow in belief. Having missed those chances Celtic continued to press Bayern high up the pitch and it was noticeable how surprised the German side were by their ‘front foot’ approach. Although Harry Kane had struck the bar the half-time whistle came with Celtic disappointed not to be ahead.
The second half saw the Germans dictate more of the flow of the game but still they struggled to create, and Celtic saw their opportunity. A well taken goal just after the hour mark from former Bayern player Nicolas Kuhn had their support in dreamland as they watched their team work tirelessly to deny Bayern space and time.
Inevitably, that work takes its toll and as the final whistle approached the Glasgow side were giving mBayern more and more opportunity to play in and around their penalty box and they paid a very cruel price for this. With extra time beckoning, a tempting Olise cross was headed goalwards by Goretzka and, although Schmeichel produced another fine save the ball was bundled over the line by Alphonso Davies to deny Celtic their first Champions League away win in the knock-out stages.
An incredibly brave effort and definite signs that Scotland’s top team had learnt valuable lessons since that 7-1 drubbing at the hands of Borussia Dortmund earlier in their Champions League campaign.
Whether those lessons will stand them in good stead going into next year’s competition only time will tell.
Meanwhile down south the pressure is mounting on Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim with the club sitting in 15th place in the Premier League with two thirds of the season played.
Amorim took charge after Erik ten Hag’s sacking last October but his time in charge has produced little, if any, upturn in performance levels and the club have slipped down a place in the table since his appointment.
With twenty-one games played in all competitions he has won nine, lost nine and drawn three. In the Premier League he has managed only four wins in fourteen matches and the lack of goals in this current United side is apparent to all.
The recruitment at Old Trafford has been very poor for some time but the problems go deeper than that and the very public questioning of his effort and subsequent loan transfer of Marcus Rashford is indicative of more worrying issues.
Brazilian winger Antony is another marquee player who United have loaned out recently due to his underwhelming contribution this season, but he has started life with Real Betis in La Liga with three goals in four matches.
His quote last weekend that he was ‘far happier’ at Betis will not go down well with the Old Trafford faithful who will look at the £84 million transfer paid to Ajax as another huge amount of cash that could have been better spent.
With the current gap between them and the bottom three, relegation will not be a consideration for United but finishing in the bottom half of the league looks increasingly likely and that is simply not good enough for an institution who once sat proudly at the very top of the European game.
