Kasper Schmeichel made his Champions League debut for Celtic in the 5-1 beating of Slovan Bratislava last night and showed exactly why he was been an excellent signing by Brendan Rodgers.
The big Danish international had the task of filling the gloves of Joe Hart this season after he announced his retirement from football last February.
And after months of searching, Brendan Rodgers captured the double-signing of Viljami Sinisalo and Kasper Schmeichel and, so far, the 37-year-old has been superb between the sticks despite not having much to do.
But his big test was always going to be in the Champions League. Rodgers has been adamant that he wants to make progress in Europe’s top competition and having a player of Schmeichel’s calibre can only help that.
And in the 5-1 hammering of Slovan Bratislava, Schmeichel showed exactly why Rodgers brought him to Celtic Park this summer.
Schmeichel’s priceless Celtic Park reaction
Playing for Celtic in the Champions League brings with it a pressure that no matter who the opposition is, the fans will demand that their team wins the game.
To do that the Celtic supporters create an atmosphere that has made even the best players in the Champions League crumble.
And looking at Scheichel’s class reaction as he lined up before kick-off, the big Dane did not let the white-hot atmosphere phase him one bit:
Looking at his face as the camera passed by, Kasper Schmeichel was absolutely loving the atmosphere being generated from the stands.
He was revelling in what can only be described as an aggressive and hostile atmosphere and the expectation of the fans who were demanding a win against the Slovakian champions.
Schmeichel’s reaction to Bratislava goal
Celtic were 3-0 up and cruising against Bratislava when they popped up and pulled one back in the 60th minute through a Kevin Wimmer goal.
It really was a superb finish from the Austrian international defender and whilst it didn’t matter in terms of the bigger picture of the result, Schmeichel’s reaction to conceding was just first-class:
The big Dane was absolutely fuming at conceding to the Slovakians and losing his clean sheet on his Champions League debut.
That’s exactly the sort of mentality that Celtic need to push on and progress at the highest level and having a player like that in the squad will make those around him raise their game.
Signed for free and even at 37, Schmeichel looks like and inspired piece of transfer business by Rodgers and one that is sure to bring huge rewards this season domestically and in Europe.
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