19 September 2024

Arne Engels: Celtic confidence soaring after ‘amazing’ Champions League win

19 September 2024

Celtic midfielder Arne Engels believes they can beat anyone in the Champions League following his “amazing” debut in the competition.

Engels scored his second penalty in his second start for the club as Celtic swept Slovan Bratislava aside with a 5-1 victory at Parkhead.

The 21-year-old Belgium international admitted the Celtic Park experience exceeded his expectation as Brendan Rodgers’ side hit four second-half goals to kick-start their league campaign.

“The sound at the beginning from the Champions League (anthem) and the crowd was unbelievable. I have never experienced anything like it,” he said.

“It really helped us and you saw in the game that we got real energy from the crowd. That’s what we love and that’s why we kept the energy in the team and keep on performing like this.

“It was incredible. The noise before the game was mental. It’s been amazing, the crowd was amazing, the team was amazing, so it’s now up to us to keep on going, keep on working and don’t get sloppy.

“We just need to focus on ourselves, that’s what we are doing well, so I think it will only improve. We are in a good way.

“I need to work every day to get a relationship with everybody. I’ve still only been here for a week and a half.

“I need to keep on going and work in training on every detail and see footage of the game that will also improve my game. I hope and think it will only get better.”

Engels faces a swift return to Germany following his club-record £11million move from Augsburg on transfer deadline day.

Celtic face a major step up in challenge in their second game of the new format when they take on last season’s runners-up, Borussia Dortmund, on October 1.

Engels said: “It will be more challenging of course but we still need to keep on working and believing in ourselves and you saw there if we keep on running and keep on making the game really hard for the opponent, we can beat everybody.”

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