Celtic’s Scottish cup tie against Raith Rovers may have come at a cost, with Portuguese midfielder Paulo Bernardo forced off early in the first half.
After signalling to the bench that he had a problem he was promptly replaced by Reo Hatate, raising concerns over his availability for the upcoming Champions League showdown with Bayern Munich.
Bernardo has been growing into his role at Celtic in recent months, offering composure and creativity in midfield.
While the expected trio of Callum McGregor, Arne Engels, and Hatate will likely start against Bayern, Celtic will need as many fit and available players as possible to stand a chance of digging out a result against the Bundesliga giants.
The loss of Bernardo would certainly weaken Rodgers’ options, particularly in terms of squad depth as the game wears on.
The extent of his injury remains unclear, and attention now turns to Brendan Rodgers for an update. With just days to go until the first leg at Celtic Park, the hope is that the midfielder’s issue is minor rather than something that will rule him out of such a crucial tie.
It will be a sold out Celtic Park for the visit of Bayern. The game didn’t even make it to a general sale such was the clamour for tickets. It’s going to be an uphill battle to get any sort of result against the German giants, let’s just hope we have as many of our first team players available on the night.
With Maeda suspended for the first leg, we’re already missing one of our most influential players.
