Kompany's Bayern mature in Glasgow – key insights ahead of Leverkusen

Most of those in Celtic colours had forgotten what it feels like to lose a competitive match at their own stadium. Some time in December 2023, there was a 2-0 loss to Hearts in the league – nothing more than a blip on the way to a ninth Scottish Premiership title in the last 10 years. Winning has become a matter of course in the league for the 54-time Scottish champions. And they've taken that impressive domestic run into the Champions League this season: 3-1 against RB Leipzig, 1-0 against Young Boys, 5-1 against Bratislava. "The fans haven't seen many defeats at Celtic Park yet, not in Europe either – we value that," said Bayern head coach Vincent Kompany. Board member for sport Max Eberl had read "that Celtic hadn't lost at home in 35 games in succession this season and last".

Loud in Paradise

When they went out into this roaringly loud, wonderfully deafening, marvellous stadium, you very quickly got a sense of how difficult it could be even for a club like Bayern on a European night "in this very special place" (Kompany). "When you hear the Champions League anthem at the start, when you're standing there - I think that's what we all play football for, that you can play games like this in places like this" said Konrad Laimer. "Especially when it's also a  Champions League play-off. That's fun."

It was no fun after just 25 seconds, though, as the unthinkable happened: Nicolas Kühn, a former Bayern reserves player, hit the ball into the visitors' net with the first attempt. The roof threatened to come off at Celtic Park but the pandemonium was cut short by an offside decision – the goal was disallowed. It nevertheless sent an icy chill down the spines of the Bayern players. Manuel Neuer had demanded the day before that they to deal with any nervousness in this atmosphere as soon as possible – that wouldn't have helped. "I just thought: stay calm," revealed Kompany later. "I know we can always score a goal!"

Once the initial scare had been completely shaken out after a good ten minutes, Bayern returned more and more to their routine pattern for Champions League evenings: plenty of possession, great composure, increasing dominance and that special gift of being able to at least somehow put a goal in the cool evening air, leaving only the question of when it would finally be scored. In general, the impressive coolness of a very mature performance had such an impact that it continuously turned down the volume inside Celtic Park. Where the ears had just been ringing, you could now hear something akin to tense silence. "The way the team then worked their way into the game, the way we dominated, the way we had possession" – all that impressed Eberl.

Olise magic delights

Celtic increasingly retreated – and Michael Olise's delightful left-footed strike into the corner made it 1-0 on the stroke of half-time. "It was disappointing so close to half-time because we'd actually done well up to then," said an annoyed Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers. However, the statistics underlined how deserved this lead was: 5-0 attempts, over 70 percent possession – Bayern had shattered Celtic's great confidence along with the noise in the stadium.

It became even quieter shortly after the break when Harry Kane made it 2-0 from a Joshua Kimmich corner (49'). “But I know this stadium and I know what it can do to the players,” said Kompany later. "We did very well for a long time but when the stadium wakes up again, it's a special place." And that's exactly what happened: the monster that Bayern had tamed so well now awoke again – and suddenly grew back into a monster. The sleepy giant opened its first eye after Upamecano first touched the ball and then the ankle of a Celtic player in the penalty area. After minutes of scrutiny, the officials decided not to award a penalty amid shrill whistles. The second eye opened when Daizen Maeda missed the abandoned Munich goal by a hair's breadth (74'). However, when the Japanese player headed in from a corner to make it 2-1, the roar could be heard again.

Big effort to get over the line

Now it was about digging in and resisting, which succeeded, also thanks Neuer's save from Alistair Johnston's late shot. After the 3-0 defeat at Feyenoord, the fully deserved 2-1 win in Glasgow was a test of character.

Eberl was proud that the team "stood up to the atmosphere, to opponents who were trying everything" at the end. Home coach Rodgers, meanwhile, took hope from the frantic 20 minutes for the return leg in Munich next Wednesday. "When we showed that aggression, we pressed better and played the way we can. That rattled Bayern and the goal gives us great hope for the second game." But before that, Bayern head to Leverkusen in three days for the showdown with the champions, a game that, as Kimmich commented, he would watch as a fan. As a Bayern fan, it should be added: "You could see today that we've taken a step forward. There's been a learning curve. This is how we have to keep going." Starting on Saturday in Leverkusen.

The free highlights of the Celtic match: