Alan Shearer puts blame on Celtic's January transfer failing with Gary Lineker in agreement

Celtic were one top striker away from knocking Bayern Munich out of the Champions League, according to ex-Newcastle United goalscorer Alan Shearer.

Brendan Rodgers' side arrived in Bavaria trailing Vincent Kompany's Bundesliga leaders 2-1 on aggregate. In the first half, Callum McGregor and Nicolas-Gerrit Kuhn had excellent opportunities to score, while a cross from Arne Engels was inches away from finding Daizen Maeda at the back post.

But 31 minutes after Kuhn gave the Scottish Premiership leaders a well-deserved second-half lead at the Allianz Arena to level the tie, Alphonso Davies bundled in a 94th-minute clincher for Bayern to leave Celtic players and fans heartbroken. After the match, Shearer praised the Bhoys' display, insisting all they lacked was a more clinical forward.

Speaking on the Rest is Football podcast, Shearer said: "It was so cruel. I must admit, before the game, I saw them making it difficult at times, but I did not see them playing as well as they did. I tell you what, if they had a finisher up top, they would be in the round of 16 now, there’s no doubt about that.

"They had three or four unbelievable chances in the first 20 or 30 minutes. They were knocking it around, every player was comfortable, Brendan Rodgers got his tactics spot on.

"It was a really, really impressive performance from Celtic. Their movement, everything about them looked really good.”

Lineker agreed with his fellow former striker, also insisting that he felt sorry for the disappointed Celtic players after the match.

Rodgers may also echo Shearer's thoughts, as he admitted he wanted to sign a striker in the January transfer window. The Bhoys had to wave goodbye to Kyogo Furuhashi, who departed Celtic Park to join Rennes after