CALLUM McGREGOR claimed the pain of seeing Celtic eliminated by Bayern Munich didn’t diminish the pride he felt at his side’s outstanding performance.
Needing to win in Germany at the 16th time of asking to turn around a 2-1 first-leg deficit, Brendan Rodgers’ players created four good chances in the opening half hour but neither McGregor, Nicolas Kuhn or Daizen Maeda (twice) were able to take them.
But having remained in the contest, Kuhn took advantage of slackness in the Bayern defence on 63 minutes to put Celtic in dreamland.
Just as it looked like Rodgers’ side were going to take the six-times winner into extra-time, however, Bayern substitute Alphonso Davies scored in the final minute of injury time to give the Germans a 3-2 aggregate victory.
Asked where the occasion ranked in terms of other European matches he’d been involved in, McGregor said: ‘Probably one of the cruellest, to be honest.
‘The performance the players gave… they gave absolutely everything and pushed a really good Bayern side all the way right to the death, basically the last kick of the ball.
McGregor and his team-mates reflect on their agonising exit from the Champions League
Carter-Vickers’ clearance rebounds off Davies and goes into the Celtic net
Alphonso Davies celebrates after equalising for Bayern in the 94th minute
‘And sometimes football’s cruel, you don’t always get what you deserve.
‘But I have to say I’m so, so proud of the players and the way they played, the way they handled themselves.
‘They gave absolutely everything. So, we come off the pitch with no regrets.’
Munich scored just a few seconds after Adam Idah appeared to have been fouled as Celtic tried to win the tie in 90 minutes.
Asked if it was a factor, McGregor added: ‘Listen, it can be. Obviously, we don’t really want to use things like that as an excuse.
‘We go straight through the game and there’s little bits that can maybe be different.
‘But listen, the boys gave an unbelievable effort and I want to focus on that because the performance was outstanding.
‘So yeah, it’s a real, real sore one, but I think we can be proud of ourselves.’
Nicolas Kuhn had given Celtic a shock lead after 63 minutes
McGregor said there was a real belief that Celtic could go on to finish the job once Kuhn scored.
‘We think the game’s there,’ he continued. ‘The template for the game was perfect.
‘They were getting frustrated trying things, shooting from outside the box, all these things, so the game was perfect for us.
‘It was set up for us to try and nick the next one as well, and even if we had to go the extra time, we still fancied ourselves as well.’
Having qualified for the play-off round only to come up just short against Bayern, McGregor believes the campaign will still go down as a huge success.
‘Yeah, a lot of belief, a lot of confidence, a lot of growth in the boys and the players and the team,’ he reflected.
‘And we have to bank that and continue to build on it because I think anybody watching that game of football tonight will see a really good Celtic team.’
