Celtic captain Callum McGregor feels they have shown they belong at Champions League level by going back to basics and proving a point following their difficult night in Dortmund.
The Scottish champions followed up their goalless draw at Atalanta by beating RB Leipzig 3-1 at Parkhead on Tuesday to move on to seven points after four matches.
Celtic have bounced back in impressive fashion from the 7-1 thrashing in Germany and thoroughly deserved their comeback victory against a side sitting second in the Bundesliga.
📊 A well deserved @ChampionsLeague victory! #CelticLeipzig | #UCL | #CelticFC🍀 pic.twitter.com/2O6Y8WWr3U
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) November 5, 2024
McGregor said: “I thought we started the game really well and obviously the goal sort of came out of nowhere and rocked us for five minutes.
“But I just said to the players at half-time, they showed tremendous character to regain control of the game at that point because it was on a sort of knife edge.
Read more:
“It could have gone either way, but the boys dug in, they stuck to their principles, they kept playing and then we got 2-1 in the second half.
“I thought we were outstanding. And then I thought some of the patterns and the football, the aggression, everything was there and thoroughly deserved to win the game.
“Hopefully that’s more confidence in the bank for the group. And we just attack the next game when it comes.”
Celtic have now played their two top-seeded opponents as well as facing second seeds Atalanta on the road.
They have given themselves a real opportunity of at least finishing in the play-off places with home games against Club Brugge and Young Boys to come as well as trips to Dinamo Zagreb and Aston Villa.
McGregor feels getting the basics right after Dortmund has been crucial.
“I think you can probably tell over the last two games, we’ve had a bit of a point to prove in terms of the work ethic of the team and everyone’s together and you’ve got to fight for everything at this level,” the midfielder said. “I think that has shown the players that has to be the start point for games like this.
“So when the games come along, we have to show the same attitude and then hopefully we can bring the same quality, the same intensity to the games.”
🥳#CelticLeipzig | #UCL | #CelticFC🍀 pic.twitter.com/uWZzR4tvFa
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) November 5, 2024
Celtic have now won three consecutive home games in the Champions League for the first time since 2007, having been on the end of some hard-luck stories in recent years when they could not take advantage of their pressure to get over the line in matches.
McGregor said: “Against a really good team, that’s probably as good as we’ve been I think in the Champions League. And in terms of the confidence, obviously the more the good game wore on, some of the passing was outstanding.
“We actually said that at half-time, we don’t want to be a nearly team. At 2-1 up, the game’s in the balance. Let’s go and kill the game and win 3-1 if we can.
“So again, it speaks volumes of where we’ve come from to now, all that learning.
“We want to be a team that’s not a nearly team. We want to get the job done and get results.”
