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Bayern Munich host Celtic in the second leg of their Champions League play-off tie with a slim advantage after the German side triumphed 2-1 in the first leg at Celtic Park.
Michael Olise’s 45th minute finish put Bayern ahead away from home and England captain Harry Kane doubled their advantage four minutes later. The Bundesliga leaders looked to be cruising into the last-16 but a goal from Celtic’s Daizen Maeda cut the deficit and gives some hope to Brendan Rodgers side.
There is a slim chance the Scottish side can overturn the deficit and make it into the next round but they have yet to win away from home in this Champions League campaign. In comparison, Bayern have won their last seven home games across all competitions and will be confident of making it through the tie.
Follow all the latest updates from the Champions League with our live blog below:
Bayern Munich vs Celtic LIVE
Musiala on draw with Leverkusen
Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen played out a 0-0 draw in the Bundesliga at the weekend in what was a clash at the top of the table.
Despite not winning the crucial match, Jamal Musiala says Bayern took lessons from the game.
He said: “We’ve had a lot of possession this season so we hadn’t had something like against Leverkusen, where we needed to defend a lot.
“It was a good experience. You need to do something like that at some point, and we can learn from it. And we can take it into the games to come.
“We didn’t have our best day, but we still didn’t lose. That’s a good sign for the team.”
Mike Jones18 February 2025 18:30
‘It won’t be an easy game’
“It won’t be an easy game,” said Bayern midfielder Jamal Musiala ahead of the match.
“We saw how it was in Glasgow. We need to prepare well, need to make sure we’re fresh and mentally ready.
“We need to be 100% on it, start well and don’t let up, and then hope we can win.”
Mike Jones18 February 2025 18:25
Rodgers on facing Bayern Munich
“It is a challenge at this level. But it’s something that we want to embrace, that challenge,” Brendan Rodgers said about tonight’s second leg.
“We’ve done very well to get to this point. When you get to this point, you want to play top-level teams. This is a team that has world-class players.
“I think it’s just spelling out that you come to this level and you have to play without any fear.
“I think there’s worse things in life that can happen than losing a game of football. So for us, we want to ensure that when we come in after the game, if we don’t go through, we’ve given it absolutely everything.”
Mike Jones18 February 2025 18:20
Brendan Rodgers wants Celtic to ‘play without fear’ against Bayern Munich
Rodgers’ side have travelled to Germany 2-1 down in the Champions League knockout phase play-off but Daizen Maeda’s late goal at Parkhead has given the Hoops fans a glimmer of hope.
Celtic are in the knockout rounds for the first time in 12 years and Rodgers feels the pressure is off ahead of their second leg at the Allianz Arena.
Mike Jones18 February 2025 18:15
When are the next rounds played?
The last-16 ties will be played across the weeks of 4/5 and 11/12 March.
The round after that is the quarter-finals, which are played in April, with the semi-finals taking place in late April and early May.
This season, the final will be held on 31 May 2025, at Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena.
The full dates for the next round are as follows:
Round of 16: 4/5 & 11/12 March 2025
Quarter-finals: 8/9 & 15/16 April 2025
Semi-finals: 29/30 April & 6/7 May 2025
Mike Jones18 February 2025 18:10
Who else could be in the draw?
There will obviously be another eight sides in the draw for the round of 16, and these will be the eight sides who are victorious in the knockout round play-off ties.
The second legs of those ties happen this week, with the first four taking place today.
Here are the scores across those eight matches going into the second leg:
Mike Jones18 February 2025 18:05
Which teams are definitely in the draw?
The teams who finished in the top eight of the competition’s new league phase table automatically qualified for the last 16.
The eight teams who have already qualified are Liverpool, FC Barcelona, Arsenal, Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Lille and Aston Villa.
According to the new rules, these sides were all placed into seeded pairs ahead of the round of 16, and will all play the second legs of their ties at home.
The seeded pairs consisted of the teams in first and second, third and fourth, fifth and sixth and seventh and eighth – for example, Liverpool and Barcelona are one seeded pair, and so on.
The seeding is also relevant for the last 16 as it determines which of two opponents the club will be drawn against.
For example, the first seeds will face the winners of the knockout phase play-off ties involving the 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th-placed teams.
To that end, Liverpool and Barcelona will face the two winners of the matches involving PSG, Benfica, Monaco and Brest – what the draw does is simply decide exactly which of the two teams faces who.
Mike Jones18 February 2025 18:01
When is the draw for the Champions League last 16 and how can I watch it?
The draw for the next rounds of the Champions League takes place at 12pm CET (11am GMT) on Friday, 21 February at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland.
The draw will be streamed live on Uefa’s website. You can also follow dedicated coverage on The Independent’s live blog on the day.
Mike Jones18 February 2025 17:53
When is the Champions League last-16 draw? Date, start time and how to watch
The draw for the last 16 of the Champions League will take place at Uefa headquarters this Friday, after the conclusion of eight intriguing play-off ties in midweek.
Europe’s most prestigious cup competition sees the end of the inaugural knockout play-off round on Wednesday, with Manchester City looking to overturn a 3-2 deficit away to Real Madrid in the pick of the games.
Mike Jones18 February 2025 17:47
Kane on Bayern’s first leg win
Harry Kane was the first player to speak to TNT Sports at the conclusion of the first leg and he said that “whenever you win a game like this, you can always be pleased”.
“Obviously it was a shame to concede a goal but they put us under pressure at the end.
“We knew the atmosphere would give them a bit of momentum. We had to be patient, we knew we would have more of the ball, more possession.
“In the end it was a great finish from Michael [Olise], sometimes you need a bit of special quality to open a game like this up,” he added.
Mike Jones18 February 2025 17:40
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