Reo Hatate shares how he ‘really felt’ about Celtic in the Champions League

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Celtic’s results in the Champions League haven’t been much to shout about over the last ten years or so.

This has been reflected by Celtic’s rank in UEFA’s club coefficiency tables but it is something that Brendan Rodgers is hoping to improve this season.

With the Celtic manager looking to add quality to his squad, Rodgers will be looking to pick up more than the one win and four points he recorded last season.

Reo Hatate has featured in the Champions League group stages for the last two seasons now and here, the Japanese midfielder opens up on how he really feels about the performances against Europe’s elite.

Hatate’s verdict on Celtic vs Real Madrid, Feyenoord and Lazio

The Japanese midfielder has come up against some of the best midfielders in Europe and has also fallen foul to some particularly sore defeats as well.

And as Hatate prepares for another crack at the cream of Europe, he looks back on how he thinks Celtic have fared in previous campaigns.

Hatate said [Ryohie Hayashi’s Football Seminar], “To be honest, I have a strong image of when we played Real Madrid (in the 2022-23 season), but I had the impression that the football characteristics were completely different in different countries.

“Feyenoord were much quicker than Scotland in terms of taking care of the ball, switching from defence to attack and going on the attack with a crack.

“However, we had our chances, and I think the result would have been different if we had been able to make those decisions.

“When we played Lazio, the coach organised the team well and it was interesting to play against them, but what I felt was purely the physical ability of the individual players.

“I really felt that the players playing in the so-called big five leagues have a high level of physical ability, and the Champions League was the only time I could experience that.”

Hatate is yet to taste a win in the Champions League with Celtic as he was injured the night Gustaf Lagerbielke netted in the 2-1 win over Feyenoord.

The Japanese midfielder will be hoping to remedy that this season and put in some good performances because if he does, it will help Hatate realise his dream of playing in the English Premier League one day.