Performance of top Canadian talent in Champions League bodes well for next year's men's World Cup

The Champions League gave Canadian soccer fans every emotion this week: There was Alphonso Davies, running in wild celebration after his winning goal for Bayern Munich; there was Alistair Johnston, in his soaked-through Celtic jersey, flat on his back on the grass. 

There is so much more to come. 

After Friday's Round of 16 draw, Davies and Bayern will now face Bundesliga rival Leverkusen in a home-and-away series in March.

And Canadian striker Jonathan David, whose French side Lille earned an automatic berth to the latter stages after a sterling league phase, will take on Dortmund. David has six goals in eight Champions League games this season.

As tantalizing as those meetings might be, they'll be hard-pressed to surpass the thrill that Davies and Johnston, national teammates turned duelling left and right backs, have already provided. It was almost surreal to see two Canadians play pivotal roles in such an all-world contest, fighting for territory on the same flank.

After Bayern narrowly won the first leg in Glasgow, 2-1, Celtic carried hopes of an upset along with their boots to last Tuesday's return leg in Munich.

Those hopes became something more like belief after Nicolas Kühn put the visitors ahead in the 63rd minute to even the aggregate score.

Johnston had been immense to that point for Celtic, playing one of the best games of his professional life — making tackles and clearances and marshalling his fellow defenders against an increasingly desperate Bayern attack.That's when Davies stepped onto the pitch.

He'd missed the first leg with a hamstring injury and didn't start the second. But when Bayern fell behind and risked a shock elimination, manager Vincent Kompany asked his star defender to do for his club what