Callum McGregor claimed the pain of seeing Celtic eliminated by Bayern Munich couldn’t diminish the pride he felt at his side’s outstanding performance.
The Scottish champions defied their underdog status to take the game to the German giants and threatened Manuel Neuer’s goal multiple times before going ahead through a second-half Nicolas Kuhn effort.
Maintaining their composure and frustrating the home side as the clock ticked down at the Allianz Arena, Celtic looked set for a first win on German soil at the 16th time of asking to take the tie into extra-time when Bayern substitute Alphonso Davies scored in the final minute of stoppage-time to crush the Parkhead side’s European dream.
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.’
