Celtic remained deeply sadded after the last-gasp winner of Bayern Munich had sent them out of the Champions League, but Brendan Rodgers believes that his party has restored their European pride.
Alphonso Davies bundled a stop-time equalizer on Tuesday and sent Bayern as 3-2 aggregated winners after a 1-1 second legs in the Allianz Arena.
Timed at 93 minutes and 12 seconds, marked the heroic deeds of Davies Bayern's latest equal goal in a Champions League match, excluding extra time, since records started in 2003-04.
Rodgers was left to the late disappointment, but praised the efforts on his side after the strike by Nicolas Kuhn gave the 63rd minute strike Celtic hope in Munich.
“It was [a sucker punch]Not what the players earned at the end, “Rodgers told Amazon Prime Sport.
“They gave the game so much, they played with confidence. We didn't give too much away, I felt that our concentration was good and denied them the space, and then we had quality and some great movements, and actually had the best opportunities in I felt the game.
3 – Celtic's Nicolas Kühn is the first German to score his first three Champions League goals against German teams. Only Lothar Matthäus (1980-1981, UEFA Cup) and Wolfgang Funkel (1985-86, Cup Winners' Cup) had previously achieved this performance in the European competition. Legionary. pic.twitter.com/ksa8ctqmfy
– Optafranz (@Optafranz) February 18, 2025
“A real heroic version, just a shame at the end. It was just such a cruel way not to even lose the game, but to go out of the competition.
“I think our European credibility has been restored this season, I think we have built that from last year, that is my collection meals of this season.
“I think we have sometimes shown real quality, if you think of the last time we were in Germany and the improvements we have made now.”
Celtic was hammered 7-1 by Borussia Dortmund in the group stage, but produced a much improved version on their return to Germany.
The visitors could have reached the level earlier in Tuesday's collision, if not for missed opportunities of Callum McGregor, Kuhn and Daizzen Maeda.
Rodgers remained floating with the attempts of Celtic against the Bundesliga giants, although admitted that further squadron improvements are needed to compete again at the highest level.
“I think we should improve the team again,” he added. “At this level you also have to be able to get quality from the bank and have that freshness. That is the next step for us.
“But I think this season has been so good. We played great football, we have had negative moments but recovered.
“My goal is to make us an experienced team at this level that you can consolidate.
“Now it is our job to learn from it, to learn from the experiences we have had and finish the season very well. We have to go to the Champions League again next season and let's see if we can improve again.”
Celtic has not succeeded in winning one of their 16 -matches against German teams in large European competitions (D4 L12).
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