Davies's recovery sets up possible Champions League clash with Canadian national teammate Johnston

CBC

14-02-2025

The Champions League is the best club competition on Earth, and Canadian soccer fans have more reasons than ever to watch: Three members of the men's national team are playing in the knockout stages, reaching heights beyond dreams.
Earlier this week, Alistair Johnston, who plays right-back for Canada and Scottish giants Celtic, acquitted himself well in a heated first leg against Bayern Munich at a crackling Celtic Park in Glasgow.
Bayern is home to Alphonso Davies, Canada's captain and star left-back. He missed the opening match with a hamstring injury, but he's resumed team training and there's a good chance he'll play in Tuesday's return leg in Munich.
Bayern's narrow 2-1 win leaves Celtic with hope of an aggregate upset over the 2020 cup winners. Davies' potential return also means that Canadian soccer fans might yet see two of their own start the same Champions League match — on the same flank, no less.
"A chance to play against a fellow Canadian at this level, it's pretty rare for us," Johnston told reporters before the opening leg. "I'm hoping he can be fit for the second leg so we can go at it."
The Feb. 18 return game will determine which side, and which Canadian defender, will advance to the Round of 16.
Another Canadian, striker Jonathan David, has already earned his spot, after his French side Lille finished a surprise seventh in the league phase of the revamped competition. David, Canada's reigning men's player of the year, has run rampant in the Champions League this season, scoring six goals in eight games.
Johnston's sturdy performance against Bayern also bodes well for the national team. With the Nations League finals, the Gold Cup, and next year's World Cup all on the near horizon, it's a win every time a Canadian man experiences the urgency and atmosphere of a top-quality game.
Bayern's daunting attack saw Johnston defend against waves of international talent: England's Harry Kane, Germany's Leroy Sané, and France's Kingsley Coman were among the World Cup-calibre men he marked.
Before the match, Johnston talked about the mental load he carries as a defender at such an elite level, the exhaustion that comes with navigating incredibly fine margins. Just putting his weight on the wrong foot might be the difference between a goal-saving challenge and a goal.
"These guys are too athletic, and they're too good," he said. "They're going to punish you."
During the Champions League anthem, Johnston stood beside his Celtic teammates, smiling and nodding, looking as though he were telling himself: You're here. You've made it. Enjoy it.
He then did mostly admirable work, including getting his head to an early, dangerous cross that otherwise would have found a soaring Kane.
Though Johnston didn't join the Celtic attack as much as he sometimes does with Canada, he did make a couple of good, long passes up the touchline and whipped in a terrific cross while his side pressed for a late equalizer.
After, he turned to the 60,000-strong crowd and urged the Celtic faithful into a further frenzy. It was beautiful, watching a Canadian assume the unlikely role of leading Scots into battle.
Because Celtic is so dominant in the Scottish Premiership —l osing only once in 25 games and holding a 13-point lead over second-place Rangers — the match against heavily favoured Bayern proved another big step in Johnston's remarkable rise.
Only five years ago, he was playing with Vaughan Azzurri in League1 Ontario.
Now, along with Davies and David, he's proving he belongs in the Champions League — which means the Canadian men are a little closer to becoming champions, too.