Players tend to wax lyrical over the atmosphere at Celtic Park.
Brendan Rodgers and his players got to witness the full Champions League experience last season on electric nights against Slovan Bratislava, RB Leipzig and Young Boys.
Opposition players tend to love it too – from Paolo Maldini to Rio Ferdinand to Lionel Messi to Vincent Kompany, it has built quite the reputation.
For those who get to be on the Celtic side on European nights, ‘Paradise’ tends to be as good as it gets in their playing career.
Or does it? For one former Hoops hero, time will need to tell at his new club.
Matt O’Riley on Celtic Park atmosphere vs Marseille
Matt O’Riley spent two-and-a-half years at Celtic, initially being brought to the club by Ange Postecoglou before playing his best football under Rodgers.
His Hoops form earned him a Premier League move last summer when Brighton won the race for the midfielder.
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After an injury-hit first season at the Seagulls, O’Riley was linked with surprise loan moves to Europe, despite starting in the side’s opening Premier League games.
This eventually led him to French giants Marseille, where he has got off to an impressive start.
In a 1-0 win over PSG last week, the Denmark man got to witness a special atmosphere at the Stade Velodrome, which holds over 67,000 fans.
And speaking ahead of OM’s Champions League meeting with Ajax this week, O’Riley was quizzed on which atmosphere comes out between Celtic and Marseille.
Asked how the two stadiums compare, O’Riley said: “I need more time here to answer this question, but they are two big, passionate clubs.
“It’s a privilege to play in front of these fans. There’s pressure, but I like this responsibility.”
Keen not to upset fans of either club, O’Riley was firmly on the fence on that one.
Plenty of Celtic representation in Ligue 1
O’Riley isn’t the only ex-Celt in the Marseille squad – Timothy Weah, who spent the second half of the 2018-19 season on loan in Glasgow, joined OM on loan from Juventus in August.
Odsonne Edouard also made his Ligue 1 return this summer, moving on loan from Crystal Palace to Lens, where he will link up with ex-Rangers forward Abdallah Sima.
Eyebrows were certainly raised when Hyeok-kyu Kwon got a move to Nantes in July – the Korean has started once for his new club in a 1-0 defeat against PSG.
The Hoops also did a couple of deals with Rennes in January, but after paving the way for Jota’s return with a move to Brittany, Kyogo Furuhashi made a surprise move to Birmingham City just six months later.
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