Maik Nawrocki has been speaking about the atmosphere at Celtic Park on Champions League nights.
The Polish defender joined the club on a five-year deal on Wednesday and was up in front of the media a matter of hours later.
As usual with these signing press conferences, the topic of UEFA Champions League football at Celtic Park soon came up.
Nawrocki looked pretty excited to find out what the fuss is all about, as he leant on some quotes from a Real Madrid star to make his point.
“I think everybody knows Celtic,” he said, as shown on the club’s YouTube channel.
“They have the Champions League and everything. So a big argument to come here and make the next step for me.
“The nights here at Celtic Park in the Champions League will be amazing.
“I saw some [games]. I think the famous quote from Toni Kroos when he said that this was the loudest place that he was. I remember this.”
Unlike some of the other overused Celtic Park quotes, Kroos‘ comments are not actually that old.
The midfielder sampled Celtic Park on matchday one of last season’s Champions League group stage. Real Madrid won the game 3-0 after a terrific first-half showing from Celtic.
“The Champions League anthem started, and I thought the stadium was going to collapse,” Kroos said of the experience.
“Unbelievable, I had never experienced anything like that.
“After the game, everyone applauded. Totally Celtic, of course, but nothing hostile or disrespectful. That was very, very, impressive.”
It’s interesting to hear that Kroos’ comments reached the likes of Nawrocki in Poland. The comments made a bit of a splash in Scotland, but that was to be expected.
It seems like much of Europe is aware of just how special our stadium is on the big nights. Quotes like those from Kroos only go to strengthen the feeling.
Nawrocki will get to sample it for himself in a matter of weeks. The Champions League draw will take place on August 31, and the likes of Real Madrid could be in the offing again.
The atmosphere will be cracking whoever we face, and Europe will likely sit up and take notice again. Then the virtuous cycle will continue.
In other news, Cameron Carter-Vickers was putting in the hard graft while his Celtic team-mates were in Japan
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