Brendan Rodgers welcomed the chance to feed off the “passion” of Celtic fans in Munich after admitting the threat of an away supporters ban had been a “big worry”.
UEFA fined Celtic £8,340 for the lighting of fireworks and throwing of objects by a supporter at Villa Park but the Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body decided against implementing a suspended ban on away fans.
The punishment remains hanging over Celtic after a series of fines led to the ban, which was suspended for two years, in the wake of major displays by fans in Dortmund in September.
But the club successfully argued their case that it should not be triggered for the second leg of the Champions League knockout stage play-off against Bayern Munich on February 18, after one fan threw a green smoke canister on to the pitch during the 4-2 defeat by Aston Villa on January 29.
Celtic fans in Dortmund pic.twitter.com/jzIqREH2YS
— Gavin McCafferty (@GavinMcCafferty) October 1, 2024
Rodgers said: “That was the big worry for me. I was concerned that they wouldn’t be able to travel because they’re such a massive part of this club.
“The support that we get and the passion that they have for the game, that really drives us and helps us. So to have them there, it’s going to be great and we’ll need them.
“I hope that we can get that support, which the majority of supporters give, which is great. It gives us great strength on the pitch. We can follow the rules and not have any more fines or have anything come against the club.
“The supporters are everything for this club. What they give to the team is what makes it. I’ve said it many times before. The support, whether financially or emotionally, what supporters give to Celtic is what makes Celtic what it is.
“So to have the support there with us always makes a huge difference.
“We see it domestically, we see it when we travel. At Villa Park. the young player, Morgan Rogers, said he’d never seen the away end like that in any game. So that obviously makes me very proud as a manager of the club.
“It’s not a surprise when you’re Celtic-minded. But we just want to make sure that there are no barriers in the way for us to play and have that support so that we can play the very best we can.”
A club statement added: “As we had said previously, Celtic made every effort to ensure that our fans could attend this match, and we are pleased that UEFA has considered our detailed submission.
“We can also confirm that the original suspended sentence remains in place, as a result of the previous use of pyrotechnics, most recently at the match against Borussia Dortmund, by a small minority of supporters.
“Again we must make it very clear that pyrotechnics have absolutely no place at our matches and should further incidents occur, then clearly, once again, there is an extremely high risk of our supporters not being permitted access to future matches.”
