Matt O’Riley has been an influential figure for Celtic this season domestically, but he now wants to stamp his authority on the European scene.
The 22-year-old has impressed ever since he moved to Glasgow from MK Dons back in January 2022, but under the leadership of Brendan Rodgers, he now appears to have found a new level to his game.
Assists were always a key part of O’Riley’s game but the Dane has now added goals and his most recent strike, against Hearts on Sunday, showed just what a talent he is.
The attacking midfielder lasered in on a ball over the top from Luis Palma before guiding the ball home with a perfectly executed volley past Zander Clark. O’Riley made the finish look easy, but it certainly wasn’t.
O’Riley was rewarded with a full Denmark call-up in the most recent international break, and he now hopes to break his way into his international team if he can continue the form that he has produced domestically when Celtic head into Europe.
Asked if playing in the Champions League helped his chances of getting involved in the international set-up, O’Riley explained: “Yeah probably, it’s obviously the biggest stage in football, so naturally people give it more attention and respect just because of the opposition level.
“I think we’ve played pretty well, but I’ve still been frustrated that we haven’t won yet, so that’s something I would like to try and change on Wednesday.”
Celtic welcome Diego Simeone and Atletico Madrid to Glasgow on Wednesday and O’Riley would love to earn three points in the group stage, something Celtic have not achieved in the last 10 years.
He continued: “The performances have warranted wins. We’ve said that before, but I think we have got good reason to believe we can win games. So, we’ll see how we go.
“I definitely feel at home at that level. I obviously feel challenged, but I also feel most at home there.
“Those are the games that I do enjoy most just because of the challenge it poses from the opposition as well. You are really tested to your limits against the best players in the world.
“If you can perform at that level, it is a real clarification that you are capable.”
Celtic produced their best performance of the season against Hearts on Sunday and O’Riley believes the 4-1 victory is the perfect preparation for facing Atletico.
He added: “Yeah it’s good. Now we’ll just focus on recovery, getting our bodies in the right place, sleeping well, eating well, spending time with loved ones and relaxing.
“Hopefully we’ll be in a nice frame of mind when we’re going into that next game.
“If we play well and take our chances, and we believe we can do it, then anything is possible.
“We have seen that before in previous Champions League games in the past, I think performance is definitely there, it’s just a matter of being ruthless in both boxes to be honest.”
Celtic manager Rodgers echoes the words of his attacking midfielder and he reckons his side are perfectly placed to cause an upset against their Spanish rivals.
The Parkhead boss concluded: “We are playing a club that are one of the best in the world and one of the top teams. We want to be able to take on the best teams in the world.
“We don’t have to be the best, but we certainly want to take them on. The players will go into it with great confidence.
“It will be an amazing atmosphere and we will devise a plan over the next few days. I think the players have been unfortunate that they haven’t picked up something in the first two games.
“I think the performance levels have been good and now we have a great chance to get our first points on the board.”
