Five things we learned from Celtic 1 - 2 Bayern Munich

Craig Fowler gives his take after Celtic are defeated 2-1 in the Champions League by German giants Bayern Munich.

James Forrest was in excellent form for Celtic. Picture: PA

Celtic restored some pride on the European stage

After the one-sided defeats by PSG and Bayern in the early rounds of group games, Celtic showed they were capable of competing with the elite of Europe on their day. Sure, the German champions rested some of their top players, and were missing a couple of others, but the presence of £40 million James Rodriguez was enough to remind anyone watching of the gulf in resources.

Yet, in the end, Celtic will be disappointed not to have at least taken a point. There were periods of possession dominance from the away side, but in both boxes, where it really counts, Celtic gave as good as they got.

What will be most pleasing to the Brendan Rodgers is that his side were able to give such a good account of themselves while sticking to their philosophy. Although, there was a pragmatic tweak made which enabled them to improve on previous showings against the favourites in the group, which we’ll get to later.

Schoolboy defending was costly

Fans of other Scottish clubs are always vexed to hear criticism of the league whenever Celtic go through European hardship. A particular favourite of pundits is to lament a goal conceded, saying something along the lines of: “they can get away with that in the SPL (sic), but they’ll be punished for that at this level.”

This was not one of those cases. Bayern’s second goal, perhaps, but the opener was a case in criminal defending from two of the more secure members of the Celtic rearguard. Dedryck Boyata should not have let the ball bounce, and it’s difficult to come up with a justifiable reason as to why he did, but goalkeeper Craig Gordon should share a portion of the blame.

Oddly for a keeper who often seems hesitant to move from his line when coming for crosses, he seems to have no problem sprinting from the box to play the Hugo Lloris role of auxiliary defender. On this occasion it was the wrong choice. With Mikael Lustig covering, it would have been tougher for Kingsley Coman to find the back of the net had Scotland’s No.1 stayed on his line.

James Forrest has staked a claim

Whether he would have started if Patrick Roberts was fit, we’ll never know, but what is certain is that James Forrest will give his manager a selection headache for future European games when the Manchester City loanee returns.

The flying winger terrorised the Bayern defence and continually drove his side up the park with his direct runs. His pass for Callum McGregor’s equaliser was terrific and he was the undoubted man of the match for the hosts.

Forrest was generally preferred to Roberts in the first half of last term, including the European matches, but had unquestionably dropped behind the English winger in the pecking order following the agreement of a second loan deal from City. With his speed and defensive awareness, Forrest does have attributes to keep Roberts on the sidelines. The fact that he’s Celtic’s property, unlike his right-wing rival, may also play in his favour.

Celtic defended cross balls better... and then they didn’t

There were moments in the match where, behind Moussa Dembele, the most advanced Celtic players when they were out of possession where the midfield three of Scott Brown, Callum McGregor and Stuart Armstrong. That was because Forrest and Scott Sinclair, the wide-midfielders, were dropping back rather deep in order to protect their full-backs a little more.

In the previous games against PSG and Bayern Munich, Rodgers’ side were exploited by crosses into the penalty area. For most of this game it wasn’t a problem. Bayern didn’t get as many opportunities to swing the ball in - Mikael Lustig, in particular, was a vast improvement against Coman on the Celtic right - and the defenders managed to deal with them when they did.

Unfortunately, this would only last so long. Unlike Sinclair, who while being poor going forward put in a shift defensively, substitute Tom Rogic failed to track David Abala for the winner, allowing the full-back to whip in a delivery for Javi Martinez to head past Gordon.

Europa League will be a true test of Celtic’s progress

Barring disaster in the final two rounds of fixtures, Celtic will qualify for the Europa League. It will be in the secondary competition where we’ll get a true reflection of where this side is heading.

They don’t necessarily have to make noises about trying to get to the latter rounds. Even getting over the line would prove to everyone, including Rodgers himself, that this team is progressing on the continent. Although, attracting the kind of star talent required to take the next step would become a lot easier if they can win a couple of rounds and extend their European run into the spring.

Being drawn against Bayern and PSG never gave them hope in the Champions League, and they’ll be out to show they are equipped to take the next step and reach the knockout stages next term.