Daizen Maeda is a Celtic UNICORN as blown away teammate peeks at GPS stats and can't believe what he's seeing
It might have been when they replaced Leroy Sane with Kingsley Coman on his side of the pitch.
Or when they started pinging passes that he’d only attempt in his own back garden. It doesn’t really matter. On Wednesday night at Parkhead, Alistair Johnston knew Celtic had stepped up a level when they faced the might of Bayern Munich. Brendan Rodgers’ side battled to salvage a 2-1 defeat in their Champions League play-off first-leg tie thanks to Daizen Maeda’s late goal. But that was only after Michael Olise’s stunning strike and a trademark Harry Kane volley had put the German giants in the driving seat.
Johnston and Celtic won’t give up on their dream of reaching the last 16. But they’ll need the performance of their lives – and one of the biggest results in the club’s history – in the Allianz Arena on Tuesday to progress. Canadian full-back Johnston enjoyed testing himself against the likes of Olise, Kane, Sane, Coman, Serge Gnabry and Jamal Musiala. But he accepts that Bayern are one of Europe’s top dogs and potential winners of the trophy on May 31.
As he reflected on the Hoops’ defeat to Vincent Kompany’s side, Johnston said: “First you see the physical side of Bayern’s game – their ability to cover ground and get in amongst it. But then there’s their confidence. I mean, the passes they make are passes we can all make. But to make them under that kind of pressure on these occasions? That’s special.
“It’s those little clipped balls that break your press, like when they drop it into Kane. I’m like, ‘Yeah, I could play that. But maybe only in the back garden with my nine-year-old cousin.’ Would I try it in a Champions League knockout match? No way.
“That’s the reason they are who they are. It’s why they’re on the wages they’re on. You think you can get at them. Then they pop it off and next thing you’re defending your own box. You have to find ways to set traps. Because if you give them time to get their heads up you’re asking for it.
“In the lead up to the game you do your scouting and wonder if it’s going to be Coman or Sane in your face on your side of the pitch. Then you think, ‘If it’s one of them it’ll probably be the other one for the last half-hour.’ So it’s never going to be an easy night.
“But that’s what we do to teams in Scotland. We’ll have Nicolas Kuhn starting then maybe bring Jota on. So there are levels to it. And when you get to this level you just expect world-class player after world-class player. They’re serial winners with a constant point to prove.”
But when it comes to being a different animal on the pitch, Johnston believes Celtic have one of their own in Maeda.
He has become Rodgers’ go-to guy and the Japanese ace has kept them in this tie with his later header. When he was deployed as a central striker against Bayern it signalled a shift in the game’s momentum. And Johnston insists Maeda is just a different breed when it comes to his energy and running power.
He said: “When Daizen scored it was like Merry Christmas. That guy has limitless energy, he’s unbelievable. He can single-handedly get the crowd onside with his work-rate.
“Celtic fans love talent – but they appreciate effort most of all. They’re a blue-collar, working-class fanbase and love seeing guys giving every last bit of effort. Daizen does that and the rest of us feed off it as you saw the other night when he got us back in the game.
“All the guys in the team cover a lot of ground. Just look at the kilometres Callum McGregor does, it’s amazing. But I look at the GPS data a lot and Daizen’s is off the charts. When you see the number of sprints he makes you’d need to sleep in an ice bath to recover.
“His hamstrings must be made of something different to everyone else’s because that’s not normal muscle. I can’t imagine how sore you’d be from all that sprinting. That explosive power to hit top speed is what causes most wear-and-tear injuries – yet he’s doing it for 90 minutes every three days.
“It’s a trait that’s almost unique in world football. The man’s a unicorn. After going up and down the wing for 60 minutes he goes through the middle and Bayern probably think he’s knackered. Instead it’s like we’ve brought on a fresh sub. And he got us such a vital goal. That change of role for him is such an important weapon for the gaffer to have up his sleeve.”
Johnston feels Celtic might have given Bayern too much respect in the first half on Wednesday night before rallying near the end. Now they have the mammoth task of overturning a one-goal deficit in the Allianz Arena to keep their dream alive. And the full-back won’t be upset if international team-mate Alphonso Davies doesn’t make it after injury.
He said: “We took too long to feel out the game. In the second half we were much better, on the front foot. If you’re tentative at this level then they will pick you off. You might as well go toe-to-toe.
“I’ve watched a lot of Bayern games because Alphonso plays there so I know how impressive their stadium is and what they’re like as a team.
“I’m not expecting to see him on Tuesday but he’s got Wolverine blood so recovers quicker than the average human! But if he wants another week off, we won’t complain.”
