Brendan Rodgers has urged Celtic to play without fear and have no regrets ahead of their Champions League play-off second leg away to Bayern Munich. (More Football News)
ꦡCeltic travel to the Allianz Arena on Tuesday hoping to overturn a 2-1 deficit to reach the last 16 of the competition for the first time since the 2012-13 season under Neil Lennon.
ཧHowever, they have been eliminated in their last nine major European knockout ties when they have lost the first leg, since going through against Koln in the first round of the 1992-93 UEFA Cup.
🐈Celtic have never progressed when losing the first leg at home, however (seven previous instances). They have also played 15 away games against German opposition in Europe, and are still looking for their first such victory (D3 L12).
🦄Rodgers' side failed to attempt a single shot in the first half of the first leg against Bayern, but in the second half they had nine shots to Bayern's five.
𒆙They also completed more passes (239 vs 213) and had more possession (53%), while their 19 touches in Bayern's box were the most by a team in a half of Champions League football against the Bundesliga side since Real Madrid in the second half in May 2024 (23).
🌜The Opta supercomputer hands Celtic a measly 9.5% win probability from their data-led simulations, and Rodgers said his side must be at their best if they are to have any chance of progressing to the next round.
♕"There's no second chance," said Rodgers. "We've got to be clever, bright and brave and if we can do that, history has shown that in sport anything can happen.
🐻"You come to this level, and you have to play without any fear.
❀"There's worse things in life than losing a game of football, so we want to ensure when we come in after the game, if we don't go through, we've given it absolutely everything."
𝐆But they face a stern test against Vincent Kompany's side, who are top of the Bundesliga standings by eight points in the Belgian's first season in charge of the club.
﷽Bayern have also progressed from their last 13 Champions League knockout ties when they won the first leg. The last time they were knocked out was in the last 16 against Inter in 2010-11, winning 1-0 in Italy in the first leg before losing 3-2 in the second leg and going out on away goals.
ꦇThey are unbeaten in their last 20 home matches in the Champions League (W16 D4), while only once previously have they had a longer such run in the competition – 29 games between March 1998 and April 2002. Indeed, their current unbeaten home streak of 20 games is also the longest active one in the Champions League.
⛦But Rodgers is taking heart from a strong finish in Glasgow in the first leg, with Daizen Maeda pulling a goal back for his side after strikes from Michael Olise and Harry Kane.
ꦯ"I'm so happy I have this group of players with incredible mentality and professionalism," added Rodgers. "If they show that, then we know we're in with a chance.
൲"As long as you can take that opportunity to give your best, you can come in and say 'we were beaten by the better team'. The regret is if you don't, and you just turn up too late.
🍸"We've shown that when we can play at the very top of our game and if a team are not quite at their best, then we can punish them.
𒀰"We've done very well to get to this point and when you do that you're going to play top-level teams. This is a team that has world-class players. For us, it'll be about our collective.
ꦚ"Everyone will look at this game with us as the underdog, but we're still mindful of being competitive and, if we can play to our level, we can make the game difficult for Bayern."
