Bayern display against Celtic hampered by busy match schedule says Kompany

MUNICH – Bayern Munich’s busy match schedule affected their performance in the 1-1 home draw against Celtic on Feb 18, coach Vincent Kompany said after his team needed a stoppage-time equaliser to squeeze through to the Champions League round of 16.

The German giants qualified 3-2 on aggregate in their play-off but only after struggling against the Scottish champions, who had the better chances and took the lead in the 63rd minute through Nicolas Kuhn, a former Bayern reserve player.

The hosts needed a last-gasp goal from Alphonso Davies to seal their spot in the next round following last week’s 2-1 victory in Glasgow.

Bundesliga leaders Bayern travelled to Celtic on Feb 12 before visiting reigning champions Bayer Leverkusen on Feb 15 for the league’s top-of-the-table clash, where they played out a goal-less draw.

“We always talked about how many matches we have in six days,” Kompany said.

“It is simple. The first half could have been better, the second half was good. We had chances and could have scored more goals.

“But it is not easy to get through such a programme. You have to see it in this context. Our goal is for performance and results to match, starting Sunday.”

Bayern, who have an eight-point lead over second-placed Leverkusen in the Bundesliga, could be without Harry Kane on Feb 23 at home to Eintracht Frankfurt, who are five points further back in third, with the striker taken off at half-time.

“We were in Glasgow on Wednesday. Then Leverkusen. Big energy output. It is normal after the second game to take an extra day to recover,” Kompany added.

“He (Kane) gave the thumbs up this morning. But during the game he felt like he wasn’t fully able to help the team. We did not want to take the extra