Celtic’s Under 20s produced a stirring performance that came so close to beating Bayern Munich, but ultimately succumbed to a 2-1 defeat at Cappielow.

Jack Aitchison had seized on a loose ball inside the Munich penalty area to fire the young Celts 1-0 in front, but a terrific late double from wonder-kid Oliver Batista-Meier turned the game around for the Bavarians.

The Hoops produced a spirited performance in Munich despite a 6-2 defeat at the Bayern Campus, and they once again started brightly in this one.

They were eager to play out from the back early on, similarly to Celtic’s first-team, and they were confident in this approach. Young Calvin Miller saw a lot of the ball early on, and despite being under pressure from a high Bayern press, the hosts kept their composure in their defensive third.

Ewan Henderson was so impressive two weeks ago in Munich, and he bombed Celtic forward with purpose at times in Cappielow. He forced Ron Hofmann into his first save with a stinging effort from 20 yards out that was well held.

Miller then came close when he collected a Johnston cross at the back post, but his toe poke towards goal was deflected wide for a corner.

It took Bayern 25 minutes to have a meaningful effort at goal, and even then it was from a set-piece. A free-kick was crossed into the area for Felix Gotze to power a header on goal, but Ryan Mullen parried well before gathering.

Celtic’s best bet of a goal still looked from Mikey Johnston. The left-winger has been lauded for his performances in the UEFA Youth League, and had appeared twice for the senior side. He was giving Josip Stanisic a torrid time, but the final ball just wasn’t there.

Another who impressed in the first half was Regan Hendry. His driving runs cause Bayern’s back-line all sorts of problems, and drew a bunch of fouls down the right that led to set-piece chances.

Aitchison and Kerr McInroy both had efforts before the break, but neither troubled Hofmann as Bayern held on until the break.

Celtic again came out firing in the second half, and really took the game to Bayern. Henderson and Aitchison both worked Hofmann in the first five minutes.

A lot of Celtic’s play during the first 10 minutes was coming down the left, with Miller and Johnston combining tremendously well.

Yet, despite Batista-Meier being quiet up until now, he showed his quality as he danced into space in the Celtic penalty area before Mullen produced a stunning stop when one-on-one.

As the young Hoops continued to dictate, McInroy sent another long-range drive in on Hofmann, but the Bayern ‘keeper continued to show good handling.

Celtic’s pressure was bound to pay off, and it duly did on the hour. Henderson again went on a trademark driving run into the Bayern penalty area. After being crowded out, the loose ball fell to Aitchison in the box, who first-timed a terrific low finish past Hofmann.

The young Celts were buoyed by the opener, and put an immediate high press on a ropey Munich back-line. Aitchison forced another error Mai, but his touches created an angle for himself, with his effort spinning into the arms of the grateful Hofmann.

Munich’s gaping holes in the defence were getting more noticeable at this point. Miller picked out Aitchison in yards of space in between Mai and Gotze. As the pair desperately tried to close him down, Aitchison layed it off to substitute Broque Watson, but his effort took a deflection and went just wide.

It was a chance that Celtic would come to rue. Bayern had a small spell of possession that drew a free-kick 25 yards from goal. The quiet Batista-Meier stepped up and curled into the bottom right-hand corner superbly to haul Munich level.

Credit to Celtic however as they never allowed their heads to drop. Bayern were clearly buoyed by their equaliser and had more of the possession for the final 10 minutes, but the Hoops were defending well.

One noticeable performer for Bayern during the final half-hour was Justin Butler, as he caused Miller and Wallace Duffy some real problems with his directness.

It seemed like the game would teeter out heading into added time, but the addition of five minutes before the full-time whistle seemed to gee up both sides.

Mullen had to be smart to stop a low Butler effort that was cut-back to him, before a Celtic corner moments later caused mayhem in the Munich box before being scrambled clear.

It felt for sure the game would end level in the final two minutes as tiredness set in.

However, Batista-Meier wasn’t having that when he picked up the ball down the left. He turned McInroy and ran in on goal from the wing, before calmly slotting past Mullen to nick the win for Bayern.

The result was a massive disappointment to a Celtic side who by-and-large controlled the match. The defeat means the young Hoops sit third in the group on three points – level with bottom placed Anderlecht.

Bayern sit on top with 10 points – three points clear of PSG on seven. Celtic have to win their final two games against PSG and Anderlecht, and hope the Parisians lose to Munich in order for them to go through.