Alphonso Davies saves Bayern blushes against Celtic in the Champions League

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Bayern narrowly wins the tie against Celtic almost causing another upset in the Play-offs of the Champions league. Celtic held Bayern to a draw in the 2nd leg of the tie at the Allianz Arena. 

Bayern Munich are considered one the biggest European giants when it comes to Champions league football. Last year they reached the semi-finals of Champions League, out-playing most of their opponents only to be ousted by the eventual champions, Real Madrid.

The Bavarians came into the match after a 0-0 draw in the Bundesliga with the current champions, Bayer Leverkusen. This match ended with 0 shots on target from Bayern’s end. It was a match to forget for the German Giants and to focus on the crucial Champions League tie with the Scottish champions, Celtic FC.

The match was played at Bayern’s home and it looked a steep task for Celtic to salvage something from the game as Bayern already had the lead of a goal from the 1st leg. 

Champions League Bayern vs Celtic 2nd leg

The match started with Bayern applying real pressure and showing intensity in front of the home crowd as they continuously marched onto Celtic’s half. Celtic were happy to sit in their half and counter attack when an opportunity arrived. This was pretty much what the both teams had planned.

Bayern kept attacking and managed to draw some crucial saves out of Kasper Schmeichel, who looked solid in front of the goal. 

The 1st half ended with frustration for the Bavarians as some shots were kept out by Schmeichel and some managed to only hit the crossbar. 

The 2nd leg started with a similar mood as Bayern were keen on attack and were ruthless but to their shock Celtic scored in the 63rd minute from a counter-attack which saw Kim Min Jae commit an error and gift the ball to Nicolas Gerrit Kuhn who obliged with a simple finish past Neuer. 

This goal resulted in immediate substitutions from Vincent Kompany who brought in Alphonso Davies for Raphael Guerreiro and Leroy Sane for Serge Gnabry. The changes brought in fresh legs and a renewed sense of urgency among the players. 

The game started to open up after 70 minutes on the clock as Bayern were pushing for an equaliser and due to commitment of bodies in front of the pitch there were spaces arising for Celtic’s forwards to push up the pitch and kill the game off eventually.

In the final 10 minutes, it became a one-way traffic as Bayern were dominating possession in the final third and Celtic were happy to defend and wait for a loose ball to counter-attack.

With the game entering stoppage time, extra-time looked imminent as neither were able to score till the 90th minute. But in 90 ‘+3, Alphonso Davies scored a tap-in out of nowhere and took Bayern through with the strike.

Micheal Olise put in a beautiful cross from the right hand side which met with a glancing header by Leon Goretzka but was saved by the ever-present Schmeichel but only to be deflected in Alphonso Davies’ direction who had to reach for the ball as a defender was in close proximity. 

Davies’ strike meant there was no time for another goal and the referee blew the whistle as soon as the game restarted. Kompany had more relief than happiness on his face as it took the last minute to decide the fate of the tie at such an early stage of the competition. 

Kasper Schmeichel was rightfully awarded the “Player of the Match” trophy after he had 9 crucial saves to his name. He was the player who kept the Bavarians at bay. 

Also Read- UEFA Champions League Real Madrid vs Manchester City: What To Expect In 2nd Leg 

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