Celtic can take heart from strong final quarter against Bayern – Brendan Rodgers

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers claimed his players will take confidence from the final quarter of their first leg against Bayern Munich after Daizen Maeda’s late goal gave the Hoops a glimmer of hope.

Bayern quickly got on top in Glasgow after Nicolas Kuhn had a goal disallowed due to Adam Idah being in an offside position just 28 seconds into the Champions League knockout stage play-off.

Goals from Michael Olise and Harry Kane either side of half-time put the German side firmly in command but Celtic improved after Maeda moved inside to centre-forward and the Japan international headed home from close range in the 79th minute.

Celtic Park came alive and Manuel Neuer saved well from Alistair Johnston as they pushed for an equaliser.

Rodgers said: “It’s a big goal for us. Not just the goal but for our confidence in the game.

“Once we started to be more aggressive in the game, then of course we were much better. To get the goal and push like we did in that last 20-25 minutes was pleasing.

“We were much better in our pressure at the top end of the pitch. We can take the ball better and then we started to move like we normally do. Then we get the goal and everything changes then. By the end, Bayern are happy for the final whistle.

“For a lot of our players, it’s their first time at this level. This season has been about getting the confidence. And like I say, that last 25 minutes, they’ll feel much better about themselves going into next week.

“Listen, it was always going to be a big challenge for us. We’re always going to be the underdog in this tie. You see their level, you see their quality.

“But we hung in there against a really, really tough side and we gave them problems. So we’ll take confidence from that.

“We’ll make sure we can play and just have that aggressive mindset. We have to defend well and we’re still right in the tie. There’s only one goal difference. So yes, it’s a big challenge. We know that. But it’s still a possibility.”

Bayern boss Vincent Kompany was taking nothing for granted ahead of Tuesday’s second leg, which comes after his Bundesliga leaders face Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday.

“It’s cliche to say but it’s the first half of the game,” the Belgian said. “But overall it’s a really good result.

“I don’t think the fans have seen many losses here, especially in Europe, so we can appreciate the victory.

“This place, it’s very hard to explain but they have something special and that’s why we can value this win.

“We are pretty decent at home as well so we will look to play on that but we have this all important game at the weekend so we will switch the focus.”