Engels Downplays ‘Revenge’ Narrative for Celtic’s Champions League Match Against Leipzig

Celtic midfielder Arne Engels stated that neither he nor his teammates are concentrating on the opportunity to demonstrate their capabilities against German opponents in anticipation of their Champions League encounter with RB Leipzig on Tuesday. Engels, who joined Celtic as their record signing from Augsburg last summer, was part of the team that suffered a 7-1 defeat to Borussia Dortmund in Germany last month. However, the 21-year-old emphasized that he is not preoccupied with that outcome as Celtic prepares to host Leipzig at Celtic Park. Engels commented, “Not really, we want to win every game.” He added, “That’s always our mindset and that’s always the mindset of Celtic also.” He further explained their approach for the home fixture: “We are playing at home, so of course we want to put in a good performance and I think we will. It’s not really a revenge or something about the Bundesliga team at all.” Engels concluded, “We just need to look at ourselves and be prepared and I think we will be.” Following their substantial loss to Dortmund, Celtic secured a 0-0 draw against Atalanta in their most recent Champions League match. Engels indicated that this display demonstrated their capacity for strong defensive play at the elite level. Regarding their current form, Engels stated, “We are pretty confident.” He continued, “We showed that we can really defend and can play against really good teams. You see Atalanta now in Serie A playing really amazing football and beating Napoli in the weekend.” He concluded by saying, “That shows confidence for us that we can do that against really good teams.”