Nicolas Kuhn is convinced Celtic have the firepower to shock Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena and keep the Champions League dream alive.
The Hoops winger knows his side face a huge task in overturning Wednesday’s 2-1 play-off first leg defeat to his former club – who haven’t lost at home in the Champions League in 20 matches going back to their quarter-final loss to PSG in 2021. Kuhn came through the Bundesliga giant’s academy and starred for Bayern’s B team alongside superstar Jamal Musiala.
The wide man knows the Bavarian big guns will be supremely confident – but he’s also convinced they will be wary of the threat Celtic can pose. Brendan Rodgers’ men had to hang tough at times in the first leg but the pace of Kuhn and Daizen Maeda posed problems – with Jota and Yang also inflicting damage from the bench.
Kuhn has told Hoops fans to keep the faith and belief in their flying squad. The German ace said: “I know Bayern are confident as a club but I don’t think they will believe the tie is over.
“They will try everything to win at the Allianz Arena – but so will we. It would have been better for us if we had won the game, but everything is still open for the second game. Hopefully we can have a better result.
“We saw we had opportunities on the counter attack. But also if we keep the ball we can be good in possession. In some situations we need to play better but there will be opportunities.
“We can have belief. We have scored goals already in the league phase. We are in good form and hopefully we can score some more over there. Bayern have a lot of quality and we know they can create a lot of chances. But I thought we defended well against them. The goal before half-time was not a good moment, of course.
“The corner was a little bit too easy for them. We can’t let one of the best strikers in the world get a second hall like that. But 2-1 gives us strength and we are now looking forward to the game in Germany.
“Everything is still open. It only takes another goal and we will be drawing. We are going to give everything.”
Kuhn went from joy to despair in the space of a few seconds on Wednesday when he thought he’d blasted a sensational opener against Bayern inside the opening 25 seconds. The celebrations were cut short when Adam Idah was judged to have been in an active offside position. But Kuhn insisted the moment of magic and the thrilling last 20 minutes at Celtic Park can give the Hoops hope of causing a seismic shock.
He said: “It would have been unbelievable. I was hoping it wasn’t offside. It was unlucky. I did not notice at the time because I don’t think Adam touched it. I think they said he was in the line of sight.
“It was really nice for a short time. The noise was crazy, like it was for the whole game. The supporters were amazing. In the last half an hour we were much better and we created some chances. There is still some way to go in the tie.”
Kuhn was left devastated on his last trip back to home soil when Celts were demolished by Borussia Dortmund in the group stage. But he insisted the Hoops are a different proposition these days going back to his homeland.
Kuhn said: “Yes, 100 per cent. I think it was a one off game against Dortmund and we learned our lesson from that night. We have a lot of young players and for a lot of guys it is the first time in the Champions League.
“There was a lot of good in the campaign and the other night. The goals we conceded were too easy but it’s something we will work on for next week.”