CELTIC’S players have done extensive homework on the RB Leipzig side they will face at Parkhead tonight and are fully expecting to face a stern examination of their Champions League credentials after kick-off.
Their German rivals may have nil points after three league phase games having lost by a single goal to Atletico Madrid away and Juventus and Liverpool at home so far and might be sitting in 31st place in the 36 team table as a result.
But Callum McGregor and his team mates are well aware of just how formidable Marco Rose’s side - who are in second spot in the Bundesliga, four points ahead of Borussia Dortmund, at the moment – are after studying their players and tactics in detail.
Arne Engels, the Belgian midfielder who joined Celtic from Augsburg in a record £11m transfer back in August, didn’t really need to swot up on the visitors to appreciate what a tough test awaits in the East End of Glasgow this evening.
He went to school with Leipzig’s free-scoring striker Lois Openda when he was in the youth ranks at Club Brugge and is now a member of the same national squad as the 24-times capped 24-year-old. He is anticipating a torrid reunion.
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“I speak with everybody in the national team and I know him from there,” he said. “But in Bruges also we studied in the same boarding school. "I was 13 or something. He's older than me, so we didn't really speak to each other. He also played for older age groups. It's normal when you're 13 that you don't speak to guys that are three, four years older than you. So, I was just seeing him there. But it's always nice to recognise a familiar face.
“I was with a lot of guys there that played in Bruges that are coming from a bit farther away. But it was really an amazing time, actually, being away with your friends. It was really great. Like everybody knows, when you're with your friends, the time flies. That time also did fly, like it was nothing. But it was an amazing time.”
"He's a striker, so every striker is a danger. But he's a really good player, so of course we need to watch out for him. But every player in RB Leipzig is really good, otherwise they don't play there, so it's not only him.”
Leaving home at such a young age to pursue his dream of becoming a professional footballer meant that Engels had to grow up quickly. But the experience helped him to mature and has proved invaluable to him in the years since. Would he have settled so quickly at Celtic had he not been so accustomed to living away from home?
"It's not normal, it's a big step at that age,” he said. “But, because I was quite close to home, every weekend I was home. So that made it maybe a little bit easier, but it was still a difficult period.
“When I first came into Germany, the first months living on your own in a different country where they don't speak the same language as you, then it's always difficult. But it's all about the football.
"I think it does help you in some way. Of course, when you're really going away from home, like I did in Germany, then you really start to think, ‘What am I doing here?’ But it starts to settle in really quickly and you're getting more mature every day, actually. So, yeah, it really helped me become the person that I am I think.”
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The warm welcome which Engels has received from his new team mates at Celtic has also ensured he has integrated himself into the first team effortlessly and settled off the park rapidly.
The togetherness of the side was evident at Hampden on Saturday evening when they hammered Aberdeen, who had gone undefeated in their first 15 competitive fixtures of the 2024/25 campaign, 6-0 in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final.
“It's a really nice group,” he said. “Everybody is nice to each other and speaks to each other. So it's not that they are like groups or something, it's just a real team. It’s quite nice. I had a really warm welcome when I came here and it feels really familiar here.
"I think it's been amazing. It was always a dream for me to come to Celtic and also to play in the Champions League on the biggest stage. So I think it's going really well and I think I will improve still, and I will. “We are a real team and you see it on the pitch and off the pitch. Everybody is really connected and that makes us a really good team. It's now on to us to step up our game even more and I hope we will do that tomorrow.” The 0-0 draw that Celtic ground out against Europa League winners Atalanta in Italy a fortnight ago was a huge step in the right direction after the 7-1 mauling they suffered at the hands of Dortmund away at the start of the month.
Building on that and getting a result against a renowned team like Leipzig would increase their prospects of making it through to the knockout rounds of Europe’s premier club competition enormously. Engels is hopeful they can do so.
“They will maybe think that they need to win,” he said. “But if you come here and play in Celtic Park, it's going to never be a really nice game. With the atmosphere here, it can really help us to be on top of the team and to grab them. We also think that if we play at home, we need to win every game here. So, it's an exciting match.”
