Celtic enjoyed a very successful Champions League campaign.
Qualifying from the league phase for the first time since 2013, Brendan Rodgers negotiated Celtic’s path through some tough fixtures against Europe’s elite clubs.
Celtic beat RB Leipzig, Young Boys and Slovan Bratislava as well as earning very good draws away to Atalanta, Dinamo Zagreb and at home to Club Brugge in the Champions League.
Whilst many Celtic fans will agree that the club performed well, nothing compares to actually winning the competition.
PSG managed that after battering Inter Milan 5-0 in the final. So where does UEFA rank Celtic’s first-team stars against this season’s Champions League holders?
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Celtic’s hardest-working & fastest Champions League players vs PSG
‘Hardest-working, as determined by UEFA, is based on distance covered according to the European governing body. Using the stats on UEFA’s official website let’s take a look at how Celtic’s stars compare to Champions League winners PSG.
| Celtic UEFA rank | Distance covered (km) | PSG UEFA rank | Distance covered (km) |
| 20th. Callum McGregor | 128.5 | 1st. Joao Neves | 183.4 |
| 59th. Reo Hatate | 105.4 | 2nd. Vitinha | 180.2 |
| 60th. Arne Engels | 103.5 | 4th. Hakimi | 176.8 |
| 67th. Alistair Johnston | 100.3 | 5th. Pacho | 159.2 |
| 76th. Daizen Maeda | 98 | 6th. Marquinhos | 158.1 |
Callum McGregor is top of the tree for Celtic in the rankings but how do the Bhoys match the Parisians in terms of speed?
| Celtic UEFA rank | Speed (km/h) | PSG UEFA rank | Speed (km/h) |
| 6th. Nicolas Kuhn | 35.9 | 1st. Hakimi | 36.9 |
| 21st. Daizen Maeda | 35.4 | 9th. Nuno Mendes | 35.7 |
| 63rd. Alistair Johnston | 34.6 | 11th. Barcola | 35.6 |
| 90th. Adam Idah | 34.3 | 100+. Dembele | 33.9 |
| 100+. Kyogo Furuhashi | 34 | 100+. D Doue | 33.8 |
Nicolas Kuhn is Celtic’s fastest player with Daizen Maeda not too far behind. Surprisingly, Alistair Johnston is tucked in behind the Japanese winger at less than 1km/h slower.
Celtic best passers and toughest tacklers vs PSG
Celtic are renowned for their passing and possession-based style of football, but just how do the Bhoys compare to the European champions on both counts?
| Celtic UEFA rank | Passing Accuracy % | PSG UEFA rank | Passing Accuracy % |
| 1st. Luis Palma | 100 [3/3] | 1st. Kimpembi | 100 [17/17] |
| 35th. Auston Trusty | 95.9 [663/692] | 23rd. Lucas Beraldo | 99.3 [117/119] |
| 43rd. Cameron Carter-Vickers | 95.3 [590/617] | 51st. Marquinhos | 94.8 [1109/1116] |
| 60th. Callum McGregor | 94 [588/623] | 72nd. Vitinha | 93.5 [1308/1392] |
| 212th. Anthony Ralston | 88.7 [46/51] | 79th. Pacho | 93 [1088/1155] |
Obviously Ralston and Palma’s stats are an anomaly due to the lack of minutes on the pitch but the other Celtic trio’s passing has been pinpoint this season.
And now for the piece de la resistance. How do Celtic’s tough tacklers compare to the mighty PSG?
| Celtic UEFA rank | Tackles made | PSG UEFA rank | Tackles made |
| 11th. Alistair Johnston | 30 | 1st. Joao Neves | 47 |
| 22nd. Reo Hatate | 23 | 4th. Nuno Mendes | 37 |
| 42nd. Arne Engels | 19 | 17th. Hakimi | 26 |
| 74th. Daizen Maeda | 15 | 48th. Fabian Ruiz | 18 |
| 100th. Auston Trusty | 13 | 54th. Pacho | 17 |
It’s fair to say that Alistair Johnston is Celtic’s surprise package here as one of the toughest and fastest players in this season’s Champions League.
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