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Martin O'Neill's side looked to be on their way to a famous win after Alan Thompson gave them the lead midway through the second half.

But a Roy Makaay double secured the three points for 2001 Champions League winners Bayern.

McNamara and O'Neill found it hard to accept they were returning to Glasgow without at least a point.

McNamara, who skippered the side in the absence of the injured Paul Lambert, said: "We scored a good goal and looked like we were cruising.

We played splendidly and we should take heart from that Celtic manager Martin O'Neill

"But the last 20 minutes have let us down defensively. We lost two bad goals from our point of view."

A bad clearance from Stanislav Varga had teed the ball up for Makaay to volley home the equaliser.

"It was a poor defensive header from us and they took advantage of it," said McNamara.

Makaay claimed the winner four minutes from time when his cross evaded the head of team-mate Michael Ballack and deceived goalkeeper Magnus Hedman.

But O'Neill refused to point the finger of blame.

Makaay sinks brave Celtic

"They had a wonder goal to equalise and we then lost a sloppy goal at the end," he admitted.

"But we played splendidly and we should take heart from that, although we only have five games to turn it around.

"It is a body blow because we have dropped three points in a game we looked comfortable in.

"We needed a bit of luck and it deserted us this time.

Alan Thompson had looked like giving Celtic a victory

"It is a terrible disappointment as we were in control of the game and got ourselves in front against one of the best teams in Europe."

Makaay was not surprised by the strength of Celtic's challenge as the Scottish side had shown their quality by reaching the Uefa Cup final last season.

But he thought his side could have won more convincingly.

"I think in the first half it was an even game, but in the second half we had a lot of chances to score more goals than we did," he said.

Makaay did not believe Hedman was to blame for the winning goal.

"It's a difficult ball for a goalkeeper, because he thinks the striker is going to head the ball," he suggested.