Martin Compston is pleased with the progress that Celtic have made in Europe this season, believing that his team have shown that they can compete on the very top stage.
The Line of Duty star and lifelong Hoops fan admitted he was left with a sense of what might have been after last month’s narrow Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich, a sign of how far the team has come.
Growing up in the 90s wasn’t easy for Compston, who rarely saw success, but now he’s loving it and is delighted that Brendan Rodgers is back in the dugout and proving his critics wrong while taking Daizen Maeda to the top of his game.
Speaking to TalkSport, the actor said:
“It’s been great, it really has,” he said as quoted by RecordSport. “The Bayern game, how good it’s been is that you actually feel that it was a bit of a missed opportunity We came so close.
“Even the Villa game, if we’d had a fully fit squad there, there might have been something in it for us. It’s about taking those next steps because we’ve dominant at home for so long. Where we should really be testing ourselves is in Europe. The Leipzig game was brilliant. People were saying we should have been beating Brugge at home; they’re a very good side. Munich away is the best I’ve seen us in a long, long time. It was more controlled than Atalanta away.
“When you saw the Dortmund performance, you thought ‘aw naw here we go again, getting spanked away in Europe seems to be what we do’ but we’ve been brilliant, we really have.
“The football we’re playing, if we keep a hold of the wee fella Maeda, he’s such an essential part of the way we play. His energy is unbelievable and he’s just a joy to watch. But it’s not just him. I think we’re playing great football under Brendan. fair play to him coming back up and winning everybody over. It wasn’t easy for him to do.
“it’s a great time to be a Celtic fan. I was born in ’84 so grew up in the 90s and it was dark times for us. People always ask me if I get bored of winning – not at all. Long may it continue.”
With Celtic dominating domestically and showing signs of progress in Europe, there’s plenty for fans like Compston to be excited about as the club looks to take the next step on the continental stage.
But it’s domestic focus for the club just now. Celtic are 16 points clear in the league, and are just three wins away from securing the league title.
But before they can take a step closer to winning the league, Celtic must play Hibs in the Scottish Cup on Sunday, as they look to edge towards another treble.
Hibs will be full of confidence and have a big away support with them, so it will be no easy game for the Hoops.
