Bayern Munich manager Vincent Kompany says that his side are not yet through to the UEFA Champions League round of 16 despite a 2-1 win away at Celtic in the first leg of the knockout playoffs on Wednesday night, Afrosport reports.
Michael Olise and Harry Kane put the Bavarian giants comfortably ahead at Celtic Park before Daizen Maeda scored the consolation goals for the Bhoys with 11 minutes left on the clock.
Bayern will play the second leg at the Allianz Arena next Tuesday and Kompany was pleased his side were able to get a win at a ground Celtic have strong form.
“Yes, absolutely. A thing is a cliche to say, but it’s the first half of the game. But overall, I think it’s a really good result.,” the Belgian said.
“I don’t think the fans have seen many losses at this at this place, especially in Europe. So, we can appreciate the importance of the game, we can appreciate the importance of the victory. Look, we’re at home now (in the second leg).
“So, we’re also pretty, pretty decent at home as well. So, we’ll look to play on that as well. But we obviously have this all-important game as well on Saturday (versus Bayer Leverkusen in the league). So, we’ll switch the focus until then.”
After Celtic went 22 home games without defeat, we are the first away team to win at Celtic Park!
💫 #CELFCB #UCL 💫 pic.twitter.com/scMrdwPyUE
— FC Bayern (@FCBayernEN) February 13, 2025
Meanwhile reacting to Maeda’s goal which still gives Celtic a chance in the tie, manager Brendan Rodgers said: “Well, it was a big goal for us. I think not just the goal but for our confidence in the game and you’ve seen the last 20, 25 minutes of the game. We … once we started to be more aggressive in the game, then of course we were much better. So yeah, to get the goal and push like we did in that last 20, 25 minutes was pleasing and we’ve got one more shot now next week to try and claw it back.”
Bayern will face Bayer Leverkusen, whom they lead by eight points, in the Bundesliga this weekend while Celtic host Dundee United at Parkhead.
