Celtic duo Callum McGregor and Arne Engels have ranked in the top 10 for distances covered by players across UEFA Champions League matchday one.
The midfield pair caught the eye in the Hoops’ 5-1 trouncing of Slovan Bratislava on Wednesday, each contributing to a historic night at Parkhead.
Engels’ teasing corner delivery set up Liam Scales for the opener before the Belgian got the Hoops’ third of the evening from the spot not long into the second half.
His skipper, McGregor, kept things ticking over for the Bhoys in the middle of the park, with both players covering an impressive distance throughout the match.
Indeed, according to stats officially published by UEFA on their Champions League app, Engels and McGregor covered 12.62km and 12.55km, respectively.
The bhoys were only bettered by four other players in matchday one in terms of their amount of running: Bayern Munich duo Alexsandr Pavlovic and Joshua Kimmich, Koke of Atletico Madrid, and Bologna’s Remo Freuler.
They put up some impressive figures:
These numbers are a testament to the sometimes unseen hard work midfielders put in.
Regarding McGregor, he doesn’t contribute to many goals or perform any eye-catching skills, but he is continually as effective off the ball as he is on it.
Engels, on the other hand, does score and assist but is equally mobile, physical, and a great all-round performer.
Seeing how the pair continue to develop together throughout the season will be exciting.
