Soccer: It’s down to the wire for Celtic

Celtic 0 Bayern Munich 0

Celtic could have booked their place in the knock-out stages and sent Ottmar Hitzfeld's stars crashing out had they won and Lyon beat Anderlecht. But the group remains poised on a knife edge and Bayern lived to fight another day after surviving another gallant performance from the ever-improving Scottish side.

Celtic, Anderlecht and Lyon all have seven points and Bayern six but O'Neill will be without Thompson after he picked up another booking while Agathe faces a race against time after hobbling off with injury.

It means O'Neill's men would go through with a draw but it is a complicated scenario which the Parkhead side did so much to avoid.

O'Neill admitted afterwards Agathe is certain to join Alan Thompson on the sidelines for their final showdown in Lyon.

The midfielder was booked for a foul during the second-half. But the realisation that he would automatically miss the the trip to France was made all the worse when Didier Agathe hobbled off with a suspected pulled hamstring.

The French winger will undergo a scan today to discover the extent of the injury.

"He's pretty sore," sighed O'Neill. "Obviously he will get a scan tomorrow but he felt it just beforehand. That will be a blow and at this minute the early signs are that he will be out for quite a few weeks so we think we will have a better idea tomorrow morning.

"I would imagine he'll be out because Lyon is in a couple of weeks and at this moment in time it doesn't look good."

With Celtic, Anderlecht and Lyon on seven points and Bayern on six, the Scottish side need just a draw in France to make the knock-out stages.

O'Neill is happy that their fate lies in their own hands but he admitted his side could not hold out for a draw if they tried. "I would take a draw now or tomorrow morning.

"But to play for a draw would be impossible. We will have to go and be positive.

"It's going to be hard there but we have given ourselves a chance. We have taken it to the final game and it's still in our own hands."

The Celtic boss felt his side deserved more after putting Bayern under intense pressure throughout.

"There is going to be disappointment because we haven't won the game but we were playing Bayern Munich," added O'Neill.

"They won the competition in 2001 and have been to quite a few finals so they are quality side, no doubt about it, so I am proud of the team.

"I thought it was a magnificent performance by the side. We dominated the first half and perhaps on reflection of the two games we didn't create enough chances as we did in our previous matches at home."

Bayern manager Ottmar Hitzfeld was satisfied with the point and believed his side and Celtic would go through from Group A.

"We both have a chance that's obvious," he said. "Against Lyon, Celtic can go through.

"It is not the same audience and atmosphere in the stadium there and Celtic have to get better and can get through, yes."

CELTIC: Hedman, Varga, Balde, McNamara, Agathe (Miller 63), Lennon, Petrov, Sutton, Thompson, Larsson, Hartson (Sylla 86).

BAYERN MUNICH: Kahn, Sagnol, Kuffour, Kovac, Lizarazu, Salihamidzic, Jeremies, Ballack, Hargreaves, Makaay, Santa Cruz (Pizarro 73).

Referee: Rene Temmink (Holland).