Celtic take on Bayern Munich in the Champions League play-off round next Wednesday night at Celtic Park looking to secure a positive result to take to Germany six days days later at the Allianz Arena…

How Bayer Munich view Celtic
Here’s how Bayern Munich look at the Celtic squad ahead of the Bundesliga leaders trip to Glasgow on Champions League play-off duties on Wednesday 12 February at Celtic Park before the tie concludes six days later at the Allianz Area in Munich on Tuesday 18 February.

‘Celtic’s squad combines mentality, experience and youth. Alongside vastly experienced goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel and captain Callum McGregor, they also boast midfield engine Arne Engels, who joined from Augsburg in the summer, and Nicolas Kühn. The 25-year-old German forward will be familiar to Bayern supporters, having played for the reserves between January 2020 and summer 2021. He was part of the team that won the 3. Liga title in 2020 before heading to Scotland via spells at Erzgebirge Aue and Rapid Vienna. He’s been in excellent form this season with 16 goals and 12 assists in 31 competitive appearances.

‘Celtic’s top scorer this season Kyogo Furuhashi joined Rennes in the winter window, but in return they re-signed Jota, who scored 28 times in 83 games for the Hoops between 2021 and 2023.’
At stake is a place in the last 16 round of the Champions League and for Celtic it is the first knock-out round that the club has reached in 13 years.

Daizen Maeda ban is a real blow for Brendan Rodgers
A huge blow for Brendan Rodgers for this tie was the decision by UEFA to upgrade Daizen Maeda’s automatic one-match ban for the red card he received against Swiss Champions BSC Young Boys to a two match ban. Maeda has been in brilliant form for Celtic and was badly missed in the 4-2 defeat at Villa Park against Aston Villa last midweek. The UEFA decision rules Maeda out of the first leg against Bayern Munich at Celtic Park – and you can click here for ticket options – but he will return for the match in Munich.

Brendan Rodgers therefore has a few games to get new signing Jota up to speed to play a week on Wednesday and the Celtic manager will be looking to get an hour out of the player the Celtic supporters love and call their ‘Superstar from Portugual’.
A slim but it’s not an impossible task for Celtic
Celtic’s chances might be slim but it’s not an impossible task. Rodgers can point to the 3-1 Champions League win over RB Leipzig at Celtic Park in the group stages however that can be countered by Celtic being on the wrong end of a 7-1 hammering against Borussia Dortmund, who were of course beaten finalists in the Champions League last season.

Between shipping four goals to Aston Villa last week, Celtic did manage clean sheets in their visits to Bergamo and Zagreb, and stopping that Atalanta from scoring really does illustrate that Celtic can defend when they have to. That is only going to be significant if Celtic can record a home win against Bayern for the first time in Champions League history.
Celtic has taken many big scalps at Paradise
Celtic have beaten some of the biggest names in European football at Celtic Park including Barcelona, AC Milan, Manchester United, Ajax, Feyenoord and Benfica so anything is possible with that incredible atmosphere at Paradise to drive on the Celtic team.

Bayern Munich are well aware of the noise levels at Celtic Park on Champions League nights.
‘Their famously vocal supporters are a real boost for Brendan Rodgers’ side, who haven’t lost at home for over a year and are in a commanding position in the Scottish Premiership, holding a 10-point lead over arch-rivals (the)Rangers.’
And talking of Feyenoord, the Dutch Champions recently thrashed Bayern Munich 3-0 in the Champions League group stages. Bayern are mighty at home at the Allianz Arena, as the aforementioned Dimano Zagreb found out on the opening night of the Champions League group stages when Bayern scored NINE goals to Zagreb’s two.
So if Celtic can take inspiration from Feyenoord’s impressive win and can recreate their own showing in Bergamo then there is a chance for the Hoops. And what an achievement that would be! No wonder tickets are selling so well for both stadiums. More details on Celtic tickets for the match against Bayern Munich at Celtic Park are available on the official Celtic FC website. Celtic season ticket holders had until 2pm today to secure their seats and any remaining tickets will go to a general sale over the next day or two.

Celtic supporters though still await the decision from UEFA regarding the threat of an away stadium ban if another pyrotechnic incident occurred. One supporter didn’t heed the warning at Villa Park so Celtic could be denied the backing of thousands of travelling supporters.