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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
Josh McCafferty

Kasper Schmeichel explains how Celtic have 'matured' in Europe

When you get to a certain age in life, especially as a footballer, the same old routines can become monotonous. That couldn't be further from the case for Celtic goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.

The Dane has taken to life in Glasgow's east end like a duck to water, and despite being a respectable 38 years of age, keeps to his same old rule of parking memorable moments each night when he hits the hay. Last Wednesday's mammoth win over Young Boys in the Champions League was no exception: "Usually, our rule is that at midnight, we move on," he said.


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"We can feel whatever we want to feel, whether that's elation or despair. Then, at midnight, we move on."

In any walk of life, learning is vital, and that is no more apparent than in the beautiful game. Setbacks have been few and far between for Brendan Rodgers' side this season, although a 7-1 thumping at the hands of Borussia Dortmund earlier in the campaign sticks out like a sore thumb.

Schmeichel, though, is grateful for the experience and thinks it was only beneficial for him and his teammates: "We had the setback against Dortmund, but what, for me, is the big marker of any team is how you come back from those setbacks," he said.

"Any game you go onto the pitch, you can lose. They caught us on our worst day and they had their best day. That can happen, but like you say, we've been unbeaten since and there's a reason for that. That's because we're a good football team.

"This team, this club, has this season shown that the few times that we have had setbacks, we've come back stronger. We went to Atalanta straight after that and kept the highest-scoring team in Europe from scoring, which is a big achievement.

"I think our game, particularly in Europe, has matured very nicely. The Leipzig result, that whole performance was a great performance. I think we're a difficult team to beat."

Hopes remain high in the ranks of the Scottish Premiership champions going into a Battle of Britain against Aston Villa on Wednesday.

Jota, who yesterday completed an emotional return to Celtic after a year-and-a-half of unfruitful endeavours in Saudi Arabia and Northern France, won't be available for the clash because he isn't registered in Celtic's Champions League squad for the initial stage of the tournament.

In tandem with the winger's return to Glasgow, Kyogo Furuhashi completed his move to Rennes on Monday afternoon, providing Rodgers with another selection blow for the Villa showdown.

Schmeichel, however, remains confident in his teammates' abilities ahead of the trip to Birmingham: "When you look at our squad, we're a good team to watch," he said.

"I think we're enjoyable to watch. What I like about us is that we learn and we mature.

"I think for the neutral, we'd probably be quite enjoyable to watch as well."

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