Arne Engels on coming of age at Celtic, and that Bayern penalty call

Arne Engels hopes that his performance against Bayern Munich has shown the Celtic supporters how he is developing as a player, and that he can compete and contribute against the very best midfielders on the planet.

The 21-year-old is keenly aware of how harshly he can be judged as the club’s record signing, with an expectation coming along with that £11m price tag that he would hit the ground running in Glasgow.

He admits that he still has a lot to learn to become the player he wants to be, but he is convinced he is in the right place to achieve that, and that he is inching closer to that target all the time under the tutelage of Brendan Rodgers.

When asked how much he has improved since arriving at Celtic, Engels said: “I think a lot. I'm playing well, I think.

(Image: PA) “There are still some things that I need to improve. I'm only 21 years old so that's normal.

“I think I'm showing that I'm capable of doing things on this level and against really good opponents, so it's up to me to just analyse every game and to keep on going, keep on working on things that I think I need to improve on and what they also tell me to improve on.

“It's up to me to keep on doing the same things that I'm doing so it will improve.

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• Gutsy Celts come up short against class of Harry Kane and co

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“I think it was okay [against Bayern]. I did my things. I was really compact with Callum (McGregor), so I think we did a lot of good things.

“We created also a lot, so yeah, it's up to us to do the same thing, I think, next week.”

Engels was at the centre of a moment of controversy in the second half of the game against Bayern, as a challenge on the midfielder from Dayot Upamecano was referred for a VAR review, only for referee Jesus Gil Manzano to judge that the contact wasn’t sufficient to warrant a penalty award.

(Image: Andrew Milligan - PA) Engels admits that the call could have gone either way, but argued that the incident fell into the ‘seen them given’ category.

“I thought he hit me,” he said.

“I was inside asking the guys if it was a penalty or not, and they said that he slightly touched me with his toe, so maybe it wasn't then, but I think the VAR looked at it and then decided to not give a penalty.

“But it took a long time, so I think it was a 50-50 one.”