German expert not expecting a shock in Bavaria
Former Bayern Munich Dietmar Hamann believes it is “almost impossible” for Celtic to progress past the German giants in tonight’s Champions League play-off second leg.
Celtic arrive at the Allianz Arena trailing 2-1 from the first leg in Glasgow and despite Daizen Maeda’s late strike giving them hope that they are still in tie, Hamann – who played for Bayern between 1993 and 1998 – does not see a way back for the Scottish champions.
There’s always a chance that a player is sent off in the first 10 minutes and Celtic might get a penalty, but obviously to get a penalty you have to get into Bayern’s box, which I don’t think they managed for probably the first 60 minutes at Parkhead,” said Hamann.
Yeah, there’s always a chance, but it’ll be mighty tough. If they nicked another goal towards the end, which they had a couple of chances to do in the first leg, then maybe. There’s always a chance but I think it’s almost impossible.
Celtic were defeated 7-1 by Borussia Dortmund in their last visit to Germany, but Hamann is unsure as to whether a similar outcome could occur at the Allianz Arena – citing Bayern’s performance in Saturday evening’s 0-0 draw against Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga.
“Well, the one thing in their favour is Bayern Munich’s not playing well,” the former Germany internationalist said. “They were absolutely bullied by Leverkusen on Saturday evening. They had the first shot on goal, which was blocked on 74 minutes. That was from a very tight angle from Kane from 15 yards. They had two shots in the whole game. The keeper didn’t have a save to make.
“So, Munich’s not playing well. That’s in their favour. I’ll never forget when they lost the game 7-1 in Dortmund, Brendan Rogers was asked, what did you make of the game? He said, oh, it’s gone. You know, we can’t change it and he said, I’d like to play these guys at Parkhead. And I thought there was a huge vote of confidence in his team.
Obviously, they had the home game. They failed to beat Munich, but he’s got the utmost confidence in his teams. We know how he works, and he will tell his players, we’ve got a chance. And as I said, Munich is not playing well. They’re always capable of scoring four or five goals, but the way they’re going at the moment, I don’t think they’ve got seven goals in them or even five.
So that’s one thing in Celtic’s favour. But obviously, if you’re 2-0 down at halftime, then you have to think about whether it make sense to still attack, maybe go home with a two or three-nil loss?”
Adding in an interview with Prime Casino, Hamann said: “Whether you lose 1-0 or 5, it doesn’t really matter. But when you realise that you haven’t got a chance to progress and maybe it makes sense for the next few weeks as well to not get hit for five or six.
