Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers shared his pride in his players’ performance after they pushed Bayern Munich all the way in their Champions League play-off tie.
The Scottish champions led in Munich through a Nicolas Kuhn goal and looked set to take the tie into extra time before Alphonso Davies scored an injury-time leveller to make it 1-1 on the night and 3-2 to the Bundesliga giants on aggregate.
It was an agonising way for Celtic’s journey in the competition to come to an end but Rodgers thought his side had given everything and could be more than pleased with their efforts despite the painful conclusion.
“It’s a mixture of pride, firstly in the performance level,” the Celtic boss said. “We have to remember this is Bayern Munich and everyone talked about that before the game.
“Performance-wise, we were outstanding, played without any fear. Defended so well, with discipline, pressed at the right moments, gave them issues on that side, and able to be compact and tight in the right moment.
“We didn’t give away so much. Harry [Kane] hit the crossbar in the first half but there weren’t too many glaring opportunities for them.
“We created really good chances. Second half we to defend more, but we know the game plan. We get in front, deservedly so. It was just about could we get the second one.
“It never looked like we were going to concede the goal that we did and sadly for us, we did. I can only take immense pride from the performance and the guys gave everything.”
Reflecting on the competition as whole, where Celtic qualified from the League Phase in the new format, as well as the dramatic night in the Allianz Arena, Rodgers felt the club had made their mark.
“European credibility was always going to be important for us this season,” he said. “That’s my takeaway from this campaign, from the ten games.
“We learnt some valuable lessons along the way, we played some amazing football along the way.
“We’ve taken a club of this size and magnitude and a club where one of the players is maybe more than our budget…
“So, everything that comes with that, it allows us to build. Last year I felt that we had developed, even though we never got the points. Performance-wise it was good. I think this season has been very good. We’ve made the progress that made me want to come back.
“Now we’ve got to finish the season off strong. We’ve got two titles to go for, get into the Champions League next season, look to build the squad again.
“My unswerving plan is to make this a seasoned club at this level, where we can hurt big opponents like Bayern Munich.”
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