Aaron Mooy admits he is living the dream of playing in the Champions League and hearing the famous anthem.
The Australia international is loving life playing for Celtic at Europe's top table as Ange Postecoglou's team go up against Real Madrid, RB Leipzig and Shakhtar Donetsk. Summer recruit Mooy, 32, has always wanted to compete in club football's biggest competition.
That dream is now a reality for the midfielder and he is cherishing every opportunity he gets as the Scottish champions look to make waves in Europe's premier tournament. It's something he has always wanted to do and he can now tick it off his bucket list. They've kicked off the section with a home defeat to Los Blancos, but earned plaudits and the ovation of the home support for their attacking approach at Parkhead.
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It was then a share of the spoils in Warsaw with Shakhtar Donetsk. They dominated for large spells in the matchday two showdown but were unable to find that crucial second goal.
Speaking about playing at the top, he said: “Yeah, it’s amazing. I’m loving it. Every time they play the song. I always dreamed of hearing that music when I was playing. Even when I am coming on in the matches, it’s still an amazing feeling.
“You watch Champions League on the TV growing up and you hear the song and you think, ‘One day could you imagine playing in that’. But when you get on the field, you don’t think about it, you just think about playing football and doing what you do every day and every week.”
He continued: “There is so much talent in the squad. I try to think back about what I was doing at their age and I wasn’t that good.
"I’m a bit older, so maybe it’s a bit different for the younger guys but we believe in ourselves and that is what you have to have to do if you want to compete at this level.
“Everyone is different but I try not to think about the occasion and try to think only about the actual football game. That’s what I think but it seems like everyone is comfortable and we are just focusing on how we want to play and following what we do in training. That’s what we are doing. We were just a little bit off (against Shakhtar).”
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