Defiant Cameron Carter-Vickers insists that it is game on in Celtic’s Champions League clash with Bayern Munich, despite the Scottish champions falling to a 2-1 defeat in the first leg of the tie at Celtic Park on Wednesday night.
The Bundesliga leaders dominated the opening hour of the game in Glasgow, taking a 2-0 lead and pinning Brendan Rodgers’ side deep in their own territory for long spells.
Slowly but surely though, Celtic edged their way back into the game, and Daizen Maeda’s counter brought them back to within one goal ahead of the return leg.
That strike, and the way they had Bayern ‘rattled’ in the closing stages, has given Carter-Vickers hope that he and his teammates can travel to Munich and pull off an almighty shock next Tuesday night.
“One hundred percent,” Carter-Vickers said.
“As long as it's one goal, it's definitely game on.
“For us it's probably like going over there and either trying to keep it at that scoreline for as long as we can and trying to take the game over there to the dying minutes.
“I think we can [cause them problems]. I think defensively as well now we're now showing that [level].
“I know we conceded two, but I can't remember too many big chances that they had really. We contained them well. We had a lot of possession, but we didn't create too much. We know we've got that side [to improve on], so it’s just having that belief that we can go and create some chances and score some goals.
“I don't think anything major needs to change. It's just building that belief that we showed in the last 25 minutes on the ball and knowing that we can hurt them if we're brave.
Read more:
-
Harry Kane admits surprise at being unmarked for goal vs Celtic
-
Frustrated Rodgers pinpoints costly Celtic vs Bayern Munich error
“I think our aim going into the game was to make sure we're still kind of in a tie going into the second leg, and I think we've done that.
“So that's definitely a positive and I think towards the end of the match we kind of grew into it and showed if we do put some passes together, we can be quite dangerous, so that's definitely something we need to try and do better.”
Carter-Vickers will be pushing himself to do better in his attempts to keep Harry Kane quiet in the Allianz Arena next week, despite feeling that he and his fellow defenders managed to keep the England captain in check for the most part on Wednesday night.
Unfortunately from Celtic’s point of view, from the couple of times he did wriggle free from their attentions, he managed to plant the ball in the back of their net once, but Carter-Vickers thinks he can now use the experience of having faced Kane to nullify him next week.
“He's such a clever player,” he said.
“He's always kind of pulling into positions where you're not sure whether you should go and mark him or, whether somebody else should be picking him up.
“It might look like he's not doing much, but I think his movement definitely helps the other players on the team get free and create spaces for other players to attack.
“So, it was definitely a tough game, and you know if he gets a chance then he’s going to take it.
“He's definitely one of the best [in Europe], I would say. Yeah, he's definitely one of the best.
“His goalscoring records speaks for itself and, you know, it's a challenge.
“To be honest, I think patience is the main thing. He tries to kind of take you into positions where, maybe if you follow him in there, then somebody else might be nipping in behind and running through the space.
“So, you've always got to be careful. But, again, you have to try as much as you can when you do get a chance to go and be aggressive and win the ball.
“It's a balance. It's about making sure you're not leaving yourself exposed, but also, in those moments, trying to be as aggressive as you can.”
Carter-Vickers knows that Celtic may need to soak up a lot of pressure again in Bavaria, and that Vincent Kompany’s men will likely have the lion’s share of the ball once more, but if he can help Celtic keep it tight at the back, he is certain that his teammates further up the pitch have the speed and the ability to hurt Bayern on the counter.
“Nic (Kuhn), Daizen (Maeda), guys like Jota now and Adam (Idah) as well, I think they all showed that they've got that pace and that ability to kind of run in behind them,” he said.
“I think at times, even in the first half, we were kind of maybe one or two passes away from getting that kind of breakaway. But yeah, we've definitely got the pace in our attack.
"Towards the end we definitely had momentum in the game and maybe if the game had gone a bit longer we could have got into another one.
“It wasn't to be. But ultimately, we're still in a good position, to go over there and try and get a result.
“I think we showed that in the last 20 minutes, if we can show that bravery and that belief on the ball, and we can string some passes together, we're a dangerous team.”
