Manuel Neuer says it’s an honour to share the Celtic Park stage with Kasper Schmeichel.
But, although he didn’t appear to recollect Arne Engels from the Bundesliga, he is fully aware of the threat of ex-Bayern youth Nicolas Kuhn. Neuer and Schmeichel are the 38-year-old international icons heroes looking to keep the back doors closed. The German ace is delighted to go into battle with the Dane and said: “It is an honour to play against him. In our careers we kept meeting, we kept talking. I met his dad [Peter] around the Champions League matches and I always talk to him as a goalkeeper. It’s always something special to meet someone my age who is still playing.”
Neuer was asked about his recollections of Engels from his time at Augsburg, but insisted his focus was more on Celtic’s more-attack minded threats, one of which plied his trade at Bayern in his younger days. He replied: “We know the player who played in Bayern’s second team, Kuhn. He is fast. We know of their offence and we have to think of the ones who are fast, who can shoot. We have worked on that.”
Boss Vincent Kompany quickly started his conference by stating he knew Engels because of the Belgian connection, but Neuer does have full knowledge of the power of Parkhead which can be strong. The No.1 kept an eye on the 2017 clash between the sides in Glasgow and admits it’s a place which could induce nerves within Bayern’s squad.
Neuer said: “I talked to Thomas Muller about it and he said it was an impressive atmosphere, so I look forward to experiencing that. I’m excited about the atmosphere. There’s a bit of football history and Celtic has made history, so it is something special to be able to play here.
“I didn’t have to turn down the volume at the time on TV, but I did see what the atmosphere was like. I think they have a good team. They play well together. They’re very aggressive.
“We have to be wide awake and, especially in such an atmosphere, it can lead to some nervousness on our part. But we know. We expect that.
“Celtic don’t really like playing against the ball, so it will be important for us to try to get to their goal and to play our attacking game as well as possible in their box and to create some chances.”