Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has revealed how much he believes Daizen Maeda’s suspension for Wednesday night’s Champions League clash against Bayern Munich will be.
Maeda, who picked up a red card against Young Boys in January at Celtic Park, meaning he would miss the Hoops’ next two games in the Champions League, with Wednesday set to be the second and final game he misses.
UEFA considered his red card against the Swiss champions to be ‘assaulting another player,’ which not many would agree with, meaning he misses two games instead of the one which many thought he would at the time.
Rodgers discussed the impact he feels Maeda’s suspension will have on Celtic, given that over the last 6 days, the Japanese winger has scored 6 goals and provided an assist in 3 games, including a hat-trick today.
Rodgers said: (Premier Sports), “I think he’s a massive miss. But the reality, when you see that, pace will always hurt you. He’s just so explosive. If you watch his third goal there, the wing-back probably thinks he has him.
“I was really pleased with him and Yang’s goals because we always talk about getting on the move and said before about tracking the game and running with it, then that little bit of explosive speed to get in and get his hat-trick.
“He is a miss, of course, because of his intensity and he’s worked great, and now what we’re getting is consistent goals from him. But, okay, we have to accept that, and now we get to play Jota instead.”
Not a bad replacement, Jota will be. However, Maeda has been unstoppable over the last week. He has reached a level that not many at the club ever do, with areas of his game like his first touch and final ball, which were previously questioned, now on point.
It’s no coincidence that since Rodgers returned to Celtic, Maeda has stepped up a gear, like so many other players in the squad.
For Maeda, he will hope the second leg against Bayern Munich at the Allianz will finally be in the balance, as on this form, no one can stop him, not even Vincent Kompany’s side.
However, for the time being, Celtic and Rodgers will have to do without Maeda on Wednesday night at Celtic Park.
