Vincent Kompany was excited about taking his Bayern Munich side to Celtic Park for their Champions League clash last night.
The Bayern boss previewed a “special” atmosphere before kick-off as the fans lived up to their reputation before and during the 90 minutes of action.
The German giants may have won 2-1 thanks to goals from Michael Olise and Harry Kane, but Daizen Maeda‘s header keeps the Hoops in the tie before the journey to the Allianz Arena next week.
Kompany was pleased with his side’s attacking performance during the game and he was satisfied that they defended well when called upon to do so.
And the Belgian refused to make any suggestion that the tie has been won as he insisted Brendan Rodgers‘ side are still hanging in there.
Asked if he’d been surprised by any Celtic player’s performance individually, or indeed as a collective, Kompany instead chose to speak on the Scottish giants as a whole and the distinction they have throughout Europe.
Vincent Kompany hailed Celtic as a ‘fantastic platform’ for players
“I know this place and I know it transcends performance sometimes,” the head coach said.
“I felt we dealt really well with it for long spells of the game, we didn’t let the game go crazy, and then the last 10 minutes we had to defend and we did that well as well.
You can feel in those moments if the game comes alive it’s a special place.
“I think overall if you look in general – and I don’t want to draw too many conclusions because we have to see each other in one week again – but if you look at the squad, Celtic has always been a fantastic platform for players who are building their careers to the very, very top.
“They’ve got players who serve the club very loyally who do well for many years and represent the DNA of the club and the fans.
“But it’s very clear to me that it’s always, from a football side, a very exciting outfit always.
Will Celtic fans be allowed at the Allianz Arena for the second-leg?
Bayern are obvious favourites to reach the Champions League latter stages now.
But Celtic’s fans will take their ticket allocation to Germany and look to roar their squad to what would be an incredible turnaround victory in Munich.
It comes following a possible stadium ban for the return leg.
Pyro was chucked onto the Aston Villa pitch on matchday eight and UEFA had already had a suspended ban in place.
Thankfully the Hoops were only fined for their fan’s actions.
