Julius OkorieBundesliga giants, Bayern Munich, zoomed to the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday night, after a 94th minute Alphonso Davis magic.
Bayern favourites going into the second leg play-off with 2-1 lead from the first leg, met a very hard nut to crack in visiting Celtic, who produced a magnificent performance but unfortunately failed to make it to the next round.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelLooking to create their most memorable European night in recent history, Celtic wasted three opportunities to take the lead in a golden three-minute first-half period.
Kuhn was first to threaten the hosts, as the former Bayern reserve team player benefited from excellent play by Jota, but his finish was cleared off the line by Raphael Guerreiro. Seconds later, Kühn flashed a low cross across the goalmouth, but Daizen Maeda could not get his feet in order and failed to get on the end of the cross.
Bayern were harassed, most notably when Dayot Upamecano gave possession away whilst trying to play out from the back, but the visitors squandered a three-on-two situation as Maeda opted to strike the ball early instead of feeding one of his two teammates in support.
Despite being second best and largely lackluster, the hosts showed moments of quality to almost find the opening goal that would have surely secured their progress to the next round.
In the opening five minutes, Nigeria born Michael Olise who has so far netted five goals for Bayern this season, delivered a cross to the back post for Serge Gnabry, but Alistair Johnston scrambled across the area to deny the former Arsenal man an opportunity to take glory.
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On the stroke of half-time, Harry Kane’s shot from the edge of the area rattled the crossbar as if warning that even an under par Brendan Rodgers’ men remain a constant threat.
With the game heading towards extra-time, Davies was on hand to scramble home a rebound after Schmeichel’s excellent save from a Goretzka header at the death.
That goal sealed Celtic’s fate, sending them crashing out of the UCL despite a defiant display in Bavaria. Bayern will be waiting to see whether they face fellow Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen or La liga side Atletico Madrid when the draw for first round holds on Friday.
In another Champions League encounter for the night, Benfica held their nerves to play out a 3-3 draw with hard fighting Monaco, but progressed on a 4-3 aggregate, thanks to their lone goal victory away in the first leg.
More winners and losers are expected to emerge today, in continuation of the play-offs. French Ligue 1 giants PSG with a 3-0 advantage in the first leg, take on Brest in quest for consolidation. Germany side Borussia Dortmund equally with a three goal advantage welcomes Sporting Lisbon.
All eyes will however be on the match between Manchester City and Real Madrid to see whether the Ethihad landlords who have struggling to maintain their form, will survive the heat. They had surrendered a two goal lead in their first leg to trail behind 3-2.
The Pep Guardiola tutored side many say will have to dig really deep to survive Real Madrid known for their fight to the finish disposition when the contest gets to the wire.
Julius Okorie is Chief Sports and Entertainment Correspondent for Prime Business Africa. He began his journalism career with the Champion Newspaper and Sporting Champion and later moved on to Daily Independent and the Nation Newspapers. Okorie joined Prime Business Africa in 2024 bringing on board 20 years of experience in writing investigative news on Sports and Entertainment. His well researched and highly informative articles on Sports Business and general entertainment are followed by a wide range of audience.
