RED Bull Leipzig gave him wings.
Last night at Celtic Park they watched him soar.
GettyGLASGOW, SCOTLAND – NOVEMBER 05: Nicolas-Gerrit Kuhn of Celtic celebrates scoring his team’s second goal during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD4 match between Celtic FC and RB Leipzig at Celtic Park on November 05, 2024 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)[/caption]
ReutersSoccer Football – Champions League – Celtic v RB Leipzig – Celtic Park, Glasgow, Scotland, Britain – November 5, 2024 Celtic’s Nicolas Gerrit Kuhn with Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers after being substituted Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smith[/caption]
ReutersSoccer Football – Champions League – Celtic v RB Leipzig – Celtic Park, Glasgow, Scotland, Britain – November 5, 2024 Celtic’s Reo Hatate reacts REUTERS/Russell Cheyne[/caption]
EPAepa11703744 Leipzig’s head coach Marco Rose reacts during the UEFA Champions League soccer match between Celtic FC and RasenBallsport Leipzig, in Glasgow, Britain, 05 November 2024. EPA/ROBERT PERRY[/caption]
Nicolas Kuhn played for the Bundesliga’s Under-16’s side and showed signs of taking off.
In this Champions League tie against them, he was flying.
There will likely be some Academy coach at the German club telling how he once watched the Celtic star scored 18 goals in 22 youth team appearances.
But they count for nothing compared to his double here and performance to go with them.
Kuhn, at 24, is now the real deal as he produced on the big stage to be the catalyst for this sensational comeback victory.
The German side took an early lead but after Kuhn’s double Reo Hatate sealed the three points.
For Brendan Rodgers, it’s arguably his biggest European result in his two spells at the club given the standard of opposition.
His side gave him everything he hoped for and more to respond to an early set-back.
Celtic had initial control of the game.
Right up until they didn’t.
Rodgers’ side made such a promising start and were the dominant team for the first 20 minutes.
The packed stadium brought the big match atmosphere and the early signs were the players would deliver the performance to go with it.
But European outfits like Leipzig only need a sniff of a chance to pounce.
And teams like Celtic cannot afford to make two mistakes in quick succession and expect to get away with it.
That’s precisely what Rodgers warned in his pre-match press conference.
He talked about how keeping possession of the ball was the best form of defence.
So there was real frustration when Auston Trusty passed straight to a Leipzig player on 23 minutes.
The centre-back had picked up an ankle knock earlier.
But it was still slack play from the big defender when he was under no real pressure.
The error led to a shot on target which was going wide.
But Kasper Schmeichel threw out his right arm to turn the ball out for a corner.
Rodgers turned away in annoyance, knowing it was needless.
The first ball into the box was cleared by Arne Engels.
But when it came back in a second time, Cameron Carter-Vickers could only flick the ball on and Leipzig scored through Christoph Baumgartner.
The Bundesliga side started to look like a really, really good side and they could have doubled their lead.
There was a panicky few minutes for Celtic, without doubt.
Alistair Johnston was required to make a vital last ditch block in that worrying spell with Antonio Nusa blasting another chance high over the bar.
Those were big moments.
But just as Celtic had control of the game and lost it, so too did Leipzig.
Rodgers’ side deserve huge credit for the way they composed themselves after that shaky five minutes.
Skipper Callum McGregor led by example in the middle of the park with a proper captain’s performance.
But the star of the show was wearing the number ten jersey.
Kuhn is just playing with so much confidence right now that he doesn’t run around the pitch, he swaggers.
It’s amazing to think he was so ordinary looking last season after he initially joined the club in January.
But he’s settled now, alright.
Kuhn made it 1-1 with a tremendous goal after 34 minutes.
He struck the ball almost nonchalantly from outside the box to beat goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi with a sensational curling shot.
Kuhn held his arms out, when the ball hit the net off the post, like it was nothing special.
But that’s exactly what it was.
Celtic could easily have settled for that before half-time.
But with Leipzig rocking they grabbed the initiative, pushed forward and scored again seconds before the break.
Hatate did brilliantly to feed the ball into the box from the left and this time Kuhn was in the right place at the right time to score again.
The goal raised the roof but no-one inside the stadium believed there were no more goals to come.
The match was still very much on a knife-edge going into the second half.
Leipzig were always capable of getting the next goal and going on to get the much needed victory.
While they turned up here with zero points from their first three European games this season, their defeats weren’t exactly against the minnows of the competition.
In truth, while they lost to Atletico Madrid, Juventus and Liverpool, their performances deserved better.
So Celtic had to beware.
But when push came to shove, Rodgers’ side were in no mood to let this opportunity slip.
They made it 3-1 in 72 minutes, Hatate reacting brilliantly to slam the ball into he roof of the net after the Leipzig keeper spilled a low cross from Johnston.
Rodgers took off Kuhn at that point with the wide-man getting a standing ovation from the Celtic support.
There was still some work to do in the closing stages.
Play being held up as young Celtic supporter invaded the pitch was an unwelcome distraction for the players.
But the final whistle wasn’t long in coming with Rodgers and his team able to take the applause of the whole crowd who were thrilled with their performance.
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