Q: You saw the respect that Bayern showed as well, an attacking full-back who was more restricted than he would normally be, purely because of the danger he causes?
Brendan Rodgers: “Yes, and I know some of our staff were speaking to their staff and they obviously were fully aware of him and the numbers that he created. I think in terms of high-intensity runs and sprints, he’s right up there with the very best in this competition. He is a handful, he’s a threat at whatever level. When you have that will and desire to run, then, as I said, the opponents will be aware of you. But no, the boy Laimer, he’s a good player, a midfield player, but he’s quick and he’s robust. They were a top side full of really good players. But what was great from our perspective was, we were there in the game competing and as our confidence grows at the level, we can improve.”
Daizen Maeda of Celtic scores against Bayern Munich in the Champions League match on February 12, 2025. Photo IMAGO.
Q: The difficulties that you gave Bayern in the last 20-25 minutes on Wednesday give you cause to rethink how you approach Tuesday night. Was that maybe dictated by what happened in the match before that? You scored a goal, they got the equaliser, it really caused them a lot of problems. Will you take a different approach on Tuesday night as a result of that?
Brendan Rodgers: “No, again, we have to be smart in the game. You have to respect that you’re playing against some world-class players that are waiting for that moment for you to go gung-ho and then that’s when their technical quality arrives into the game. So, like I said before, you have to be in balance. There’s going to be times when you can press. I think we missed a few of those opportunities in the game. A few of the triggers that we normally have in our pressing, we maybe missed out on a few of those, which would have given us more pressure.
“But it’s okay, it can happen in the state of the game. But we still have to be compact, tight, together. But what the last 25 minutes does, it gives you that notion and feeling that, no, actually, we can play here and not just play on the counter-attack. So, if we get the first goal after that 28 seconds, then it’s a different game altogether and that gives that injection to the players for the whole game. But we’re also mindful that you have to pivot your strategy. We have to pivot it again this week, coming back into this Dundee United game. But it’s the beauty of the team, they’ve learned so well over the course of this competition. We’ll be there to get a result on Tuesday night and we’ll come up with the best plan after the Dundee United game.”
Greg Taylor training ahead of the Champions League match between Aston Villa and Celtic on 29 January 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
Q: Brendan, there were a couple of times the other night when some fans were quick to get on Greg Taylor’s back if he wasn’t going forward. Do you think they need to show a bit more patience there?
Brendan Rodgers: “I thought the crowd were brilliant the other night. I thought they were fantastic, the noise level. Maybe because it was a knock-out game it felt even more than what it normally does. I thought the atmosphere was incredible in the game. I thought we had great support, naturally. You misplace a pass, whatever, it’s going to happen. I thought the crowd were brilliant.”
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