Yesterday evening, I published an article stating that all Celtic had to do at the Allianz Arena was believe, and that anything could happen.

They did more than that.

Not only did they believe, they took the game to Bayern Munich on their own patch.

In reality, had our front-men been more clinical, especially Daizen Maeda, we could have been 2 or more up in the first half.

That would have been the stuff dreams are made.

And as I said in our podcast last Sunday evening:

As much as I’d love to be a dreamer, and say that we’re gonna go out there, and we’re gonna win 2-0 and cause the biggest upset in the Champions League in years….

Well, for a while there last night, Celtic had me dreaming.

When Nicolas Kuhn put the ball in the Bayern net, I dared to dream.

But as is always the cruel case with Celtic, the dream turned into a nightmare.

It’s taken me a while to gather my thoughts in the aftermath of last night’s events, and I suppose the overriding feeling here is pride.

I’m extremely proud of what we did in Munich last night.

I actually wonder if Munich will face as tough a test as that on their home patch again before their Champions League campaign concludes?

They knew they had been in a game last night.

And if truth be told, they also knew they were extremely lucky.

They knew they got away with one.

We didn’t deserve to go out the way we did.

The least we deserved was to take that tie to extra time.

But it wasn’t to be, and somehow, we managed to save the concession of a calamitous goal until the bitter end, the last kick of the game.

When in the past, Celtic usually conceded a few of these kinds of goals to elite sides early in a game.

I cannot blame the players for that goal though.

I just can’t.

They were out on their feet, they had given it their all.

They did not deserve such a bitter, cruel blow at the death.

When Kaspar Schmeichel saved the ball from Leon Goretzka’s diving header, it fell to Cameron Carter-Vickers.

You could see exactly what he was trying to do.

All he had to do was boot it out for a corner, and he made the vital contact.

But the fresh legs of Alphonso Davies just got ahead of CCV, and the ball literally rebounded off the Canadian international and into the net.

It was gut wrenching.

Absolutely gut wrenching, a bitter pill to swallow.

Vincent Kompany and his half a billion euros worth of superstars got away with it, and they know they did.

The old saying goes, fortune favours the brave.

Well, it didn’t favour us last night, and we were by far the bravest side out on that pitch.

I haven’t even covered the fact that Daizen Maeda was clearly fouled by Dayot Umpamecano in the build up the goal.

Nor the fact that Bayern Munich only conceded two fouls in the whole game.

When we got our first free kick in the game in the second half, my mate at our CSC actually asked me if that was our first, I was in disbelief that it was.

Bayern got away with a lot of decisions throughout the game that should have been free kicks, but weren’t.

It was clear that the referee was favouring the home side more than he was us.

Whether that’s down to the fact that he was awestruck by Bayern Munich, or that he was just favouring the bigger side, we’ll never know.

What I cannot understand is how the VAR did not review the foul on Daizen Maeda in the build up to the equaliser?

Brendan Rodgers was rightly aggrieved about it, stating it should have been a free kick.

Granted, it was about 40 seconds before the equaliser.

But if the referee, Benoit Bastien, had awarded a free kick to Celtic, as he should have, then who knows what would have happened?

There is no point now in bemoaning the lack of a decision, but it just makes it all the harder to swallow.

But if this is to be considered the most elite Cup competition in world football, then it should be officiated by the world’s best referees.

The elite when it comes to refereeing.

Over the course of both legs, Celtic were on the end of some very poor officiating.

The kind we’re used to seeing week in, week out in Scotland.

There is no doubting we should have had a penalty in the first leg, and now there is no doubting that Celtic deserved a free kick for Umpamecano’s foul on Daizen Maeda.

One would be forgiven for thinking that certain people wanted Bayern Munich in the next round, and not Celtic.

As I’ve said, football is cruel and callous at this level.

And last night was a perfect example of that.

Regardless, it will go down as one of Celtic’s greatest away performances away in the Champions League.

It’s also worth remembering that we did not lose this game, we held Bayern Munich to a draw on their own patch.

That in itself, at this level, was a serious achievement.

It’s worth remembering some of the individual performances out there last night too.

Jeffrey Schlupp was outstanding, Daizen Maeda never stopped, and both CCV and Auston Trusty were excellent.

Callum McGregor was rock solid, along with Arne Engels.

To a man, every one of them gave it their all.

Had we been more clinical in our finishing, then I would be writing a completely different story today.

It wasn’t to be, but we have gained huge experience in this year’s Champions League.

We have learned that we can more than compete at this level.

And we know that if we strengthen further this summer and retain the core of the current squad, then we can definitely go further in next season’s competition.

Surely now the board realises that going deep into this competition is far more lucrative than winning trebles in Scotland?

Surely?

You can’t help but feel that if we have strength in depth next year, we have every chance of going further than we did this time around?

Brendan Rodgers needs to sit down with Dermot Desmond and the board after this.

He needs make it clear to them that this is the way forward for the club.

This is where the money, the status, and growth on the world stage lies for this football club.

If they don’t see that, then they’re blind.

If they don’t go after it, then they are fools.

But we all know they’re smart men, don’t we?

Don’t we?

I’ll let you draw your own conclusions there.

Our manager has a vision for this club.

It’s time everyone at Celtic rowed in behind it.

He has more than proved to them he deserves proper backing now.