“Frustration, disappointment, I thought it was a heroic performance, very brave,” Kasper Schmeichel | OneFootball

Kasper Schmeichel insists Celtic’s performance at the Allianz Arena last night was “heroic” as his side cruelly exited the Champions League…

Kasper Schmeichel, goalkeeper of Celtic FC, and Alistair Johnston defend during the UEFA Champions League knockout phase play-off second leg football match between Bayern Munich and Celtic FC in Munich, Germany, February 18, 2025. Photo by Xinhua Philippe Ruiz

The 38 year-old Danish goalkeeper pulled off an incredible 10 saves in the game and was intrinsic behind Celtic’s colossal defensive display which saw the Hoops’ shutout Bayern for 94 minutes.

Seconds away from a memorable clean-sheet

Schmeichel was seconds away from a memorable clean-sheet, but could not do prevent Canadian full-back Alphonso Davies’ tackling the ball into the net to heartbreakingly send the hosts through to the last 16 of Europe’s elite club competition.

The veteran goalkeeper’s 10th save on the match came during the build-up to the goal. Initially saving Leon Goretzka’s header, Davies followed in crushing the hearts of Brendan Rodgers’ side.

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Josip Stanisic of Bayern Munich react during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Knockout Play-off second leg match between FC Bayern München and Celtic FC at Allianz Arena on February 18, 2025 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images)

Celtic’s Champions League journey came to an end in Bavaria’s capital, but Schmeichel believes performances such as last night will stand the club in good stead heading into next season’s campaign.

‘Frustration, disappointment, I thought it was a heroic performance’

“Frustration, disappointment, I thought it was a heroic performance, very brave,” Schmeichel told CBS when speaking to his father. “Football is a cruel game sometimes, that’s the emotion at the moment.”

“I was loving every minute so another 30 minutes would have been amazing. But it just wasn’t to be.”

Leon Goretzka of Bayern Munich shoots under pressure from Cameron Carter-Vickers and Kasper Schmeichel of Celtic during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Knockout Play-off second leg match between FC Bayern München and Celtic FC at Allianz Arena on February 18, 2025 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images)

“Right now, there’s just so much disappointment. But I think when we take a step back in the next few days and analyse the fact we’ve gone away to Bayern and are disappointed in drawing the game. I think that says a lot when you think of where we started the competition to where we got to.”

“It tells a lot about the group and the journey that we’ve been on, and it will stand us in good stead for the future.”

“We’ve shown that we’re a good football team. We’ve shown that we are a team that have learned from our mistakes, we’ve come a long way. Like I said, I think it will all stand us in good stead for the future.”

Celtic players pose for a photo on pitch prior to the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Knockout Play-off second leg match between FC Bayern München and Celtic FC at Allianz Arena on February 18, 2025 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)

Reflecting on the Hoops’ 10 games in a memorable Champions League campaign, Schmeichel said: “If you look at our journey, we start it with a 5-1 win, which was amazing. Then we go and get beat 7-1 then you have to go to Atalanta away, who were free-scoring, and we kept them from scoring. That was another good one from ourselves.

“We’ve constantly evolved, we’ve constantly learned, and I think that’s the most important thing for the future because we’ve got a lot of young players in there that haven’t played at this stage, at this level, with this kind of pressure. It’s a tough learning curve but in the long run it will probably be a good one.”

Conor Spence

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