Arne Engels insists Celtic believe they belong in the knockout stages of the Champions League.
The Hoops can all but secure a play-off spot with a win over Young Boys at Parkhead on Wednesday night. Not since 2012-23 have Celtic had a taste of the knockout stage of Europe’s premier competition. Neil Lennon ’s side crashed out to Juventus in the last 16 on that occasion. But a win tomorrow would move them onto 12 points with a game to spare from the league phase. And Engels reckons they are ready to take the next step.
He said: “Yeah, I think we are really ready as a squad and we feel also in big games against good teams that we can do really well and that we can perform. So of course as a team I think we all feel that we belong to the knockouts and we will do everything to go there. Everybody is really looking forward to it, like normal. It’s a Champions League game, it’s a really important game for us. So everybody is really looking forward to it and everybody is ready.
“Of course it’s a big opportunity but we already played some games here so every game that we had in the Champions League was an opportunity for us to take the three points. It’s again a really big game coming up and also I think it’s next week already that we are looking forward to but now we are fully focused on the next game and that’s Young Boys.”
The £11million summer signing from Augsburg admits he was blown away by the Parkhead atmosphere on his first taste of big Euro nights against Slovan Bratislava, RB Leipzig and Club Brugge. And he predicted another “crazy” night in Paradise as they look to get the job done.
Engels said: “Yeah, 100 per cent. I think the supporters will be there again and we will be there so it will be a really crazy night hopefully. It’s always unbelievable to play at Celtic Park, especially at European nights. I’m really looking forward to that, feeling that again, and I think the team is also really looking forward to it.”
Young Boys sit bottom of the league phase having lost all six of their games to this point. But Engels knows it would be a huge mistake to take victory for granted against the Swiss strugglers.
He said: “It’s too easy to think that. It’s the Champions League and every team that is in the Champions League has really a lot of qualities, otherwise they wouldn’t be in the Champions League. So we need to be on top of our game and I think we are ready for it. As a team we are focused on what we need to do and like we showed already, these weeks we can create a lot of chances and I hope we will do the same again.”