Brendan Rodgers made a bold selection decision in the second leg of Celtic's Champions League tie against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena. With a 2-1 deficit to overturn, there was a need to make things happen and the manager left out Adam Idah despite scoring 5 goals in his last 5 outings in order to start with a front three of Daizen Maeda, Jota and Nicolas Kuhn.
Unexpectedly, Celtic were the much better team in the first half against Bayern Munich. The Bavarians struggled to stop the Hoops from creating clear chances.
Unfortunately, Celtic have had a problem when it comes to putting away their chances at the Champions League level. Whether it is the lack of finishing or the composure at the big stage, they always seem to fluff their lines against the biggest teams.
That happened in the first half against Real Madrid at Parkhead a couple of years back. And it was even worse against Bayern Munich this time around.
Celtic's biggest problem haunts them vs Bayern Munich
Kuhn was one-on-one with Manuel Neuer for a second and did find a way past the Bayern Munich goalkeeper. But it was a weak effort and was easily cleared by a defender on the line.
Then Arne Engels played a ball across the face of the goal which Maeda could not get a toe to. And then, perhaps the worst miss came from the Japanese forward.
Celtic found themselves in a 3-on-1 situation. But instead of looking to find a teammate or get in a better position, Maeda decided that the best route was to go for goal from outside the box and missed his effort completely.
Rodgers has a lot to be happy about going into the break. The score is still tied at 0-0 and Celtic are still in the game for sure. But then, there is also the fear that the Hoops had their chances and could not take any of them.