Celtic’s Champions League journey came to a cruel and heartbreaking end, as Alphonso Davies’ 94th-minute equaliser secured Bayern Munich’s place in the last 16.
Brendan Rodgers’ side had produced a performance full of determination and quality, with Nicolas Kühn’s goal early in the second half putting them ahead on the night. However, in the dying seconds, Celtic’s dream was shattered as Bayern found a way through.
It was a night of immense effort and resilience, with Celtic taking the game to Bayern in ways few had expected.
They created numerous chances, particularly in the first half, and defended with discipline and grit.
Even with their backs against the wall for much of the second half, the Hoops stood strong.
But, in a moment of gut-wrenching misfortune, Davies bundled home the decisive goal, denying Celtic extra time and a chance at making history.
Speaking after the match, Alistair Johnston shared his thoughts on the team’s performance, the emotions in the dressing room, and the pride they can take from pushing one of Europe’s elite to the brink. [BBC]
“Yeah, I mean, it’s still, it just feels, I mean, it’s vivid right now. It’s tough to really put into words. But again, disappointment is definitely not the word that comes to my mind.
“It was a heroic performance from everyone out there. I mean, this is, again, this is one of the best teams in the world. There’s no two ways about that.
“Coming to their place where they’ve got an unbelievable home record, not only in the league, but in Europe as well. We held our own. They needed a last kick of the game equalizer to get through against us.
“So that’s obviously the part that hurts. We put so much into it to not get the reward of potentially going through. But even then, if we kept that, we’re still going to need to go into extra time and going to need to find a way to dig in there, which I think we showed we had that ability to dig in.
“But no, I’m really proud of this group. I think that a lot of people would have wrote us off going into this leg, going down, being down a goal, an aggregate, coming to this amazing stadium, amazing crowd and amazing team. For us to show up like that, I think it will have a lot of respect, not only in Europe, but around the globe.”
Alistair Johnston had one of his best performances in a Celtic shirt on Tuesday night, putting in a real shift at right-back. But his efforts weren’t rewarded after his international teammate’s goal in the 94th minute.
