Celtic are flying high on the crest of a wave after their Champions League result against RB Leipzig as the plaudits continue to roll in for the Scottish champions.
Celtic’s players pulled off an incredible Champions League performance to take care of the Bundesliga second-placed team but it wasn’t just Brendan Rodgers’ squad that can take all of the credit for the win last night.
It seems the Celtic fans played their part as well as Leipzig’s veteran midfielder Kevin Kampl has admitted after the match.
RB Leipzig struggled with Celtic Park Champions League ‘atmosphere’
The Slovenian international has played in the white-hot atmospheres of Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and even in Turkey with his national side and won at those grounds.
But at Celtic Park, the 34-year-old midfielder who has 585 professional first-team appearances to his name, admits that even he struggled to deal with the Celtic Park atmosphere created by the Parkhead support.
Kampl told Leipziger Volkszeitung, “Shortly after the game, it’s difficult to classify it. It took us five minutes to accept the atmosphere, the game, then we had everyone under control until the 35th minute.
“We take the lead and still have chances to increase. The double blow then brought us back down to earth. The mood came back, the atmosphere pushed Celtic.
“If we make it 2-0 in the first half, we can make the stadium even quieter. So it was difficult in the second half. We tried everything, but Celtic had an answer to everything. They were not impressed.”
RB Leipzig players are ‘very bitter’ about Champions League defeat to Celtic
“We were always a step too late and then it was an endurance run,” Kampl continued, “There was no more in the second half. You have to be that honest.
“This is very bitter. We didn’t let ourselves be surprised, but we also played against a great team and of course, the stadium is something special.”
To be fair to Kampl and Leipzig, they aren’t the first and won’t be the last who come to Celtic Park and struggle to deal with the atmosphere the Parkhead support creates.
Barcelona, AC Milan and Manchester United have all come to Glasgow and crumbled at the incredible noise that emanates from the Celtic Park stands.
With Club Brugge up next, another three points would be the perfect cherry on the cake and if the Celtic fans can bring the noise then it would be hard to bet against Rodgers beating the 14-year Champions League record the Celtic boss has just equalled.
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