Overall, Celtic will be content with how the game against Bayern Munich ended considering they had gone 2-0 down right out of the break. The Hoops did manage to turn the tie around a bit after that and a 79th-minute goal from Daizen Maeda does provide them some hope heading into the second leg at the Allianz Arena. If they had been handed a penalty for the incident involving Arne Engels and Dayot Upamecano, this match could have even ended in a draw.
That does not mean that Celtic do not have things to work on ahead of the second leg. Far from it. They made some silly errors against Bayern Munich which cost them dearly.
One of them has to be the lack of attention that they seemed to pay to Harry Kane at times. In the first half, he was left open at the far post on one occasion and thankfully missed from close range.
But then, the Hoops repeated the error in the second half. Once again, Kane found himself all on his own at the back post and this time around, he made no mistake, scoring a volley past Kasper Schmeichel to double Bayern Munich's lead.
Thierry Henry slams Celtic players for mistake vs Bayern Munich
Thierry Henry was not impressed with Celtic's defending for that goal. As reported by 67 Hail Hail, he said on CBS Sports:
"I just don’t understand what I have seen now,” added Henry. “Let’s talk about the finish of Harry Kane and how he was alone and everything. Well rehearsed. A corner.
“However, you did the same thing as in the first half. They are doing this. How can you have Harry Kane, in your six-yard box on a corner volleying alone at the back post, when he almost did the same thing in the first half? That’s too much!
“You can’t concede a goal like that, I am sorry! He nearly punished you on the first corner and then you leave him alone?
“It’s okay, he is going to move, he is going to move. You are going to leave Kane alone in the six-yard box volleying the ball when you are trying to win a game that’s already difficult?! You are giving them a goal like that. How?!
“Then after, you are asking for a penalty and the crowd to help you. How is that even possible? How?! If we do that in training, the goalkeeper will say ‘that will never happen in the game’.
“It did happen. Champions League. Bayern Munich. At your place. He nearly did it in the first half. Harry Kane twice alone."
The criticism coming from Henry is certainly justified. Celtic have to be smarter with their defending. Kane is one of the best finishers in the game, you cannot leave him unmarked in the box.
He might have missed the first chance, but he scored the second. Celtic did not learn from their original mistake and were made to pay for it. Those are the margins at this level. They will surely need to be a lot more careful in Munich next week.