Rodgers could unleash his own Olise by starting "magical" Celtic star

Celtic are back in action in the Champions League this evening as they prepare to travel to Germany to take on Bayern Munich in a defining clash.

The Hoops lost 2-1 to Bayern Munich at Parkhead last week and this means that they will need a huge result against the Bundesliga giants tonight to turn things around, or else they will be knocked out of the competition at the play-off stage.

Brendan Rodgers‘ side have been in action since their loss to the Bavarian team, though, as they beat Dundee United 3-0 in Glasgow at the weekend in the Scottish Premiership.

As you can see in the highlights above, all three of Celtic’s goals were impressive as Callum McGregor, Jota, and Adam Idah produced moments of individual quality.

Idah’s strike was the pick of the bunch as he cut in from the left flank to unleash a tremendous effort into the far top corner for his 13th goal of the season in all competitions.

Last week, Celtic were on the wrong end of a stunning strike from a similar range when Michael Olise put Bayern Munich 1-0 up in the second half.

Michael Olise’s Bayern brilliance

The former Reading and Crystal Palace star beautifully controlled a ball over to the right wing and cut inside of Greg Taylor with ease before unleashing a sublime shot into the top corner of Kasper Schmeichel’s near post.

It was a sensational goal from Olise and one that broke the deadlock on the night, as it had been a tense 0-0 game until he delivered that moment of brilliance.

That strike was the London-born magician’s 11th goal in all competitions for Bayern this season since he made the move from Crystal Palace last summer to try his luck in the Bundesliga.

The left-footed wizard had racked up an impressive return of ten goals and six assists in 19 appearances in the Premier League for the Eagles in the 2023/24 campaign, which attracted Bayern’s attention.

Olise has hit the ground running in Bavaria as a left-footed right winger with the ability to score and assist goals on a regular basis, cutting in on his favored foot to devastating effect at the top end of the pitch.

As you can see in the table above, the France international has been directly involved in 13 goals in 17 starts in the Bundesliga so far this term, and has been let down by the wasteful finishing of his teammates at times, as they have only scored seven times from the 13 ‘big chances’ that he has created for them.

Celtic will need to contain his threat better than they did in the first leg, but they could also cause Bayern problems by unleashing their own version of Olise on the right flank, and that is not Hyun-jun Yang.

Why Hyun-jun Yang should be dropped

The South Korean forward was selected to start on the right side of the front three in the 3-0 win over Dundee United at Parkhead in the Premiership on Saturday.

Rodgers must, however, instantly drop the former Gangwon attacker from the starting line-up for this clash with Bayern Munich in the Champions League tonight, despite his assist for McGregor’s goal.

Yang’s short pass to the captain led to the midfielder’s brilliant run into the box and finish, but the winger also missed a ‘big chance’, completed one of his three attempted dribbles, and lost six of his nine duels.

These statistics show that it was far from a perfect performance from the 22-year-old forward, who has struggled for consistency in the final third throughout the 2024/25 campaign.

As you can see in the table above, Yang has failed to offer much in the way of quality at the top end of the pitch in the Champions League or the Premiership.

This is why Rodgers must ruthlessly ditch him from the XI for this knockout clash with Bayern tonight, and Nicolas Kuhn is the man who should replace him in the line-up.

Why Nicolas Kuhn could be Celtic’s own Michael Olise

The German forward has the potential to be Celtic’s own version of the game-changing Olise from last week if he can step up with a big performance this evening.

Kuhn thought he had his own moment of glory in the match after just 26 seconds when he cut in from the right flank and found the bottom corner of Manuel Neuer’s goal with an excellent left-footed strike from distance, only for VAR to ultimately rule it out for Idah being in an offside position in front of the German legend.

Unfortunately, the Celtic winger was unable to produce another moment of magic on the night, but his form this season suggests that he is very capable of being a match-winner for the Scottish giants this evening.

Like Olise, the 25-year-old star, who was once described as “magical” by Rodgers, is a left-footed forward who typically plays on the right flank and cuts in to produce goals and assists on a regular basis.

As you can see in the table above, Kuhn has delivered goals and ‘big chances’ created with regularity for the Hoops in both the Premiership and the Champions League this season.

These statistics show that the former Bayern youth prospect has the quality to step up and deliver a big moment for Celtic tonight, as he almost did with his disallowed goal last week.

That is why Rodgers has to drop Yang, who has lacked consistency in the final third throughout the season, in order to unleash his own version of Olise from the start on the right wing in Bavaria tonight, in the hope that he can fire Celtic through to the last 16 of the competition.