The unique Celtic Park atmosphere will be a “help” against European giants Bayern Munich on Wednesday, says Bundesliga commentator and German football expert Derek Rae,
Celtic will look to cause a major Champions League upset against the five-time winners in the new play-off round, with the winners of the two-legged tie going into the last 16 round.
Bundesliga commentator Derek Rae has spoken of how the Celtic Park atmosphere is well respected by the German media and speaking to the Bhoys in Green YouTube channel. He stated: “I think there is respect for Celtic. I don’t think there is fear. I don’t think anyone thinks Bayern should be afraid of Celtic, but there is respect, and a lot of it is down to the Celtic park factor.”
Bayern manager Vincent Kompany has been highly complimentary of the Celtic Park atmosphere, having experienced it as a player during his Anderlecht days, where he was on the wrong end of the scoreline, losing 3-1 in 2003. After the Werder Bremen game, the Belgium stated: “It’s certainly going to be special for us and the fans. Celtic Park, in my experience, it was one of the loudest stadiums I ever played in.”
Bayern come into the playoff tie after finishing 12th in the league phase and ultimately were disappointed to miss out on the top 8 after a few problematic results away from home.
As for Celtic in the Champions League it has been a fantastic campaign as they finished 21st and achieved their goal of finishing in a playoff spot.
Mr Rae feels Celtic are “learning in Europe, stating, “I give them credit because you might think after the Dortmund thrashing that would be the end of it. I was particularly impressed with the result against Leipzig.
Celtic also successfully appealed Daizen Maeda’s red card against Young Boys, which was reduced to a one-match ban that he had already served against Aston Villa.
This is a massive boost for Celtic as Maeda has been one of their key men this season notching up 21 goals and eight assists.
Another key man for Celtic could be German winger Nicolas Kuhn, who was in Bayern’s youth academy and has been on fire for Celtic, bagging 17 goals and 12 assists this season.
The former ESPN commenter spoke about how Kuhn is not as well known in Germany due to his different career path. He stated: “He’s not that well known in Germany, even though he was a promising young player because he doesn’t have a track record at club level here in Germany he’s off the radar.”
One Celtic player with previous experience against Bayern is Arne Engels, who is Celtic’s record signing when he joined from Augsburg for £11 million in the summer.
Derek spoke on how Engles faired for Augsburg, stating: “His first game in the Bundesliga was away at Dortmund. Dortmund won 4-3, and Engels played very well. I watched Engels very closely, and for a player like that, the thought is, what’s the next step? Was it a bigger team in Germany, such as Bayern, Leverkusen or Dortmund, to make a claim in the starting eleven? Probably not. He probably made a good decision to go to Celtic, where he will get European football, which he didn’t get at Augsburg, and I think that the atmosphere appealed to him.”
Celtic will have to feed off the brilliant Celtic Park atmosphere to stop Bayern’s array of world-class talent.
One of the many world-class talents that Bayern have at their disposal is Harry Kane, who is a guy who deals in goals, and this season is no different, finding the net 28 times.
The German football expert was asked how Celtic could stop the English striker. He said: “There is also a period in the game when I say I have seen Harry Kane, and then he pops up, and you go, there is Harry Kane!”
Jamel Musiala is a major young talent in German and European football and is a key man for Vincent Kompany’s side. The former BT Sport commentator spoke of how good the young German midfielder is and how dangerous he is. “He’s really dangerous, and when he on his game, he is as close to perfection.”
So can Celtic get a result against Bayern? Derek Rae thinks they should use the Leipzig result as a start; he stated: “If you look at that Leipzig game, the crowd played a massive part when you went behind.”
Celtic will need to use the Celtic Park crowd to get a result against the six-time winners of the Champions League and take something to Munich next Tuesday.
