Hiroki Ito makes competitive debut for Bayern

78 minutes had been played in Glasgow and Bayern Munich were up 2:0 against Celtic, when head coach Vincent Kompany called Hiroki Ito over to the side-line. It had been 270 days since Bayern's summer signing had played the last competitive game of football for his former club VfB Stuttgart, in May of 2024. Having started the pre-season in Munich with great expectations, the 25-year-old had sustained injury in a test match against Düren and was forced to undergo foot surgery twice, leading to a six-month period of absence.

After he had finally been able to return to full team training several weeks ago, the Japanese international now featured in Bayern Munich's competitive squad for the very first time against Celtic Glasgow. “Hiroki was really good for us during pre-season already. It's a great shame he was out for so long,” Vincent Kompany had commented prior to the Champions League knock-out tie. Bayern's head coach naturally welcomes the additional option Ito presents on the left-back and central defensive position. “Now, we have more players with experience and quality. However, it's difficult to judge his fitness. He made a good impression on us in training, but unfortunately I can't organise a test match especially for him,” Kompany had said in the pre-match press conference at Celtic Park. According to Kompany, Ito's recent training performances had been outstanding. But questions regarding his competitive match fitness remained.

Important defensive work against Celtic's final surge

12 minutes of regular time and seven minutes of extra time on top should certainly have helped Hiroki Ito improve in that regard. In the heated Celtic Park atmosphere, Ito replaced Raphaël Guerreiro on the left-back position. And after Celtic scored the late 2:1, Ito's qualities in defence were immediately put to the test. In the end, he helped Bayern to hold on to the important away victory and thus had two great reasons to celebrate an unforgettable evening.