It may well be Kasper Schmeichel’s name that will go into the Celtic record books after the team equalled a 118-year-old clean sheet record at the weekend, but much of the credit for the feat must go to the men in front of the keeper.
Not only has he yet to pick the ball out of the net in his first five appearances for Celtic, the big Dane has barely had to make a save. Even still, the fact that Tom Sinclair was the last goalkeeper to record five shutouts in his first five games for the club back in 1906 (on loan from Rangers, curiously enough) shows how rare the current run is.
Both Schmeichel and his teammates will hope to break the record during the week, but to do so, they will have to show that they are able to translate their defensive miserliness to the European stage, something they have struggled to do in the recent past.
The home tie against Slovan Bratislava on Wednesday evening is the most favourable fixture of their eight Champions League fixtures in theory, and if they can keep the Slovaks out at one end, Celtic are confident they have the firepower to win a valuable three points to kick off their continental campaign.
Liam Scales has become an integral part of their defensive unit, and he revealed that is exactly the message that is being pressed home in the Celtic dressing room, where pleasure is being taken from this series of clean sheets, but there is a guarding against satisfaction becoming complacency.
“The manager mentioned before the [Hearts] game that we were on the brink of breaking it with another clean sheet,” Scales said.
“I'm happy we managed to get that but now it's about hopefully pushing on and getting more and setting a record that won't be beaten.
“That's what we need to look at, because if you keep a clean sheet, the minimum you're going to get out of a game is a draw. So, for us, to keep doing that would be brilliant.
“It's just been a really good start to the season. We're really looking forward to Wednesday night and we just want to bring our form into that game. We really haven't put a foot wrong, I don't think.
“It's just been fluid and it's good to get back after the international break, get back together and get a result like that leading into a big game on Wednesday.”
His first Champions League experience was a sobering one at times for Scales last season, with the 6-0 hounding at the hands of Atletico Madrid after Daizen Maeda had been ordered off a particularly eye-opening evening.
It may not have felt like it at the time, but having such experiences under their belt can be valuable to Celtic this season in Scales’ view, who says that a solid defensive base will be vital if the Scottish champions are to have hopes of progression to the knockout stage of the competition.
“It’s going to be massively important,” he said.
“I think now we have a bit more experience in those games and you see how ruthless European teams can be.
“We've gone into it with a more defensive mindset I suppose. As defenders we know if we're solid at the back our attacking players can go and win the games for us. That's what we'll really be focusing on.
“I'm not saying it will be any easier, it's just you know what's coming, you know what sort of games you're going into, you know what the atmosphere is going to be like and the speed of the game.
“It's good and I'm not the only one, there are other players who last year would have been their first experience and even the guys who have been there two or three years in a row.
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“Getting those extra six games last season for them, they'll have more experience for it now as well.
“It would be great for the club to be playing in knockout games in Europe. It would be amazing and that's what we're looking at.
“With the new format, who knows how it's going to work out? Obviously, it's the first year it's happened, so we need to go in thinking that we can get into the last 16 or into the play-off for the last 16, whatever way it works.
“It's nice to have the extra games as well. I think it's all positive.”
While on the subject of breaking records, Scales was surprised to hear that there is also an opportunity to break an unwanted sequence against Slovan, with Celtic having never won the opening match of a Champions League campaign in 12 attempts.
“It would be brilliant to break another record in midweek,” he said.
“I didn't know that but look, it's a home game. This place will be rocking. The fans will be excited for it.
“We're all excited for it and we're really looking forward to it. It would be great to go and get a win and start the campaign that way.
“You hear that it's a favourable draw and on paper, it might look that way. But they're all really good sides, playing at the top of their level. It is massively important to win those games at home.
“I think we have a good chance. I think we're in the right place now to go and do that because of how good we've been playing domestically. If we can bring that form and improve on it in Europe, we'll have a chance.”
