Celtic suffer 'cruellest' Champions League blow as unified dressing room mantra emerges from Bayern pain game
Battling Celtic were knocked out of the UEFA Champions League playoffs after a gusty 1-1 second leg draw vs Bayern Munich
Heartbroken Kasper Schmeichel reckons Celtic will benefit from their gut-wrenching Champions League exit in the long run as he pointed to the positives on a night of Euro pain in Germany.
The Scottish champions looked on course to register a historic first-ever knockout stage win in Europe’s elite competition when Nicolas Kuhn gave the Hoops a deserved lead in the second half. But Alphonso Davies’ broke Celtic hearts deep into extra-time to ensure the Parkhead side’s wait for a first away win in the tournament since 2017 went on.
This was the exact definition of ecstasy to agony for Brendan Rodgers’ side as Davies’ heartbreaking late goal ended their dreams of reaching the last 16. But experienced keeper Schmeichel believes that once the dust has settled, Celtic can look back on a campaign full of encouragement that will stand them in good stead for the future.
“Frustration, disappointment, I thought it was a heroic performance, very brave,” the 111-capped Danish international told Amazon Prime Sports. “Football is a cruel game sometimes, that’s the emotion at the moment.
“I was loving every minute so another 30 would have been amazing. There’s just so much disappointment but in the next few days when we take a step back and analyse the fact we’re away to Bayern and are disappointed in drawing, I think that says a lot when you think of where we started the competition to where we got to.
“It will stand us in good stead for the future. We’ve got a lot of young players in there that haven’t played at this stage, this level, with this kind of pressure so it’s a tough learning curve but in the long run it will probably be a good one.”
Celtic skipper Callum McGregor described the result as “one of the cruellest” he’s ever experienced in a Celtic jersey over his decade plus spell at the club, but felt his teammates left everything out on the pitch as per his pre-match request.
He admitted: “Probably one of the cruellest, the performance of the players, they gave about everything and pushed a really good Bayern side all of the way.
“Sometimes in football you don’t get what you deserve but I have to say I’m so, so proud of the players and the way they played and handled themselves. We’ve come off that pitch with no regrets. It’s a real, real sore one but I think we can be proud of ourselves.
“It was set up for us to try and nick the next one as well, and even if we had to go to extra time we fancies ourselves as well. i think anybody watching that game of football would see a really good Celtic team.”