STAYING ALIVE! Rodgers urges Celtic to take ‘one more shot’ at Bayern Munich after Maeda goal gives them glimmer of hope for second leg

Brendan Rodgers praised the resilience of his Celtic players and insisted they’re still alive in the Champions League play-off clash with Bayern Munich despite falling to a 2-1 first-leg defeat.

The German giants scored twice in a four-minute burst either side of half-time as goals from Michael Olise and Harry Kane gave them a commanding 2-0 lead.

But Celtic refused to buckle and managed to remain in the fight when Daizen Maeda pulled a goal back 11 minutes from time.

Aware his team face a tall order in next week’s second leg in Munich, Rodgers urged them to have ‘no regrets’ after clawing their way back into the tie.

‘We are still right in the tie and it was about staying alive in the game,’ he said.

‘We have one more shot, so let’s go to Munich and have no regrets.

The Japanese star celebrates with his team-mates after his goal reduced deficit at Celtic Park

Brendan Rodgers seeks more from his players as they go in search of a precious equaliser

‘This is a new level for a lot of the players and they have done absolutely great. But let’s go next week and see where it takes us.

‘The tie is still in the balance. It’s still tight. If we defend strong and compete, we have shown we can play and be a threat.

‘We’ve shown a spirit in this competition and a spirit and mentality that we’re improving and getting better.

‘Part of that is you know you have to suffer at this level but you have to have the ability to come back. That’s what makes me proud at the end of the game because you can always lose at this level.

‘At this stage of the competition, the quality goes up. But what must never happen is you must never be broken. And the players, they weren’t broken.

‘We will take confidence from the last period of the game and I am looking forward to next Tuesday already.

‘It was always going to be a big challenge for us. We’re always going to be the underdog in this tie. You see Bayern’s level, their quality.

‘But we hung in there against a really, really tough side and we gave them problems. So we’ll take confidence from that.

Michael Olise fired home an unstoppable shot to give Bayern Munich a 1-0 lead

Harry Kane made it 2-0 for the German giants with a wonderful volley in the second half

Striker Kane runs away to celebrate after scoring for Bayern Munich in the 49th minute

‘We go over next week. It’s a big challenge, of course it is. But we are still in the tie. It’ll be tough, but it’s still a possibility [to go through].’

Celtic thought they were off to the perfect start inside the opening 30 seconds when Nicolas Kuhn fired low past Manuel Neuer, only for his effort to be ruled out due to Adam Idah being offside.

Bayern took a firm grip on the game when Olise and Kane struck either side of half-time, but Maeda’s late goal gave Celtic a lifeline.

The Germans looked rattled – and Rodgers believes Celtic could well have snatched an equaliser such was the pressure they were applying.

‘I thought we’d got off to the perfect start but the goal wasn’t given,’ he reflected. ‘We were a bit passive in our pressing early on but we were stable without the ball.

‘It was about us being more aggressive in the second half, but one player you don’t leave unmarked at a corner is arguably the best striker in world football [Kane].

‘At 2-0, we made the changes but we were pressing in the last 25 minutes and were more active at the top end.

‘You then see what it brought. Our football came alive and we got the goal. Bayern were hanging on then at 2-1 and that is what we can take from the game.’  

Vincent Kompany warned his players the tie is not over after Maeda’s goal for Celtic

Michael Olise is congratulated by team-mates after his wonder goal just before the break

Maeda also believes his late goal gives Celtic hope of turning the tie around.

Freed to play after his appeal against a two-game ban, the winger’s close-range finish ensured Vincent Kompany’s side still have work to do.

‘There’s a big difference between going there with a 2-0 and a 2-1,’ said Maeda. ‘So, I think it was a very important goal.’

Asked if he believed Celtic could get a result in Germany, he added: ‘Yes, of course. If we had played like that from the first minutes of the first half then we could’ve had more opportunities. We will try to play as we did in the second half from the beginning in Germany.

‘For this game, obviously I thought I’m not going to play. So, I was trying to recover slowly towards the weekend game. However, in a good way it changed.

‘It wasn’t difficult to adjust the circumstances and it was good to get the goal.’