NEW Bhoy Moritz Jenz reveals he WELCOMED squaring up to world superstar Lionel Messi.
The towering German centre-back, who agreed a season-long loan at the champions during the week, came face-to-face with the little Argentinan wizard in a Ligue 1 clash last term.
Moritz got the nod to take his place in the Lorient rearguard when they faced Paris Saint-Germain with the mesmerising Messi lining up for the French giants.
It was an intriguing confrontation, but the 23-year-old defender didn’t flinch and it was the Barcelona legend and his PSG team-mates who were scrambling for a late equaliser which was duly delivered in stoppage-time from Mauro Icardi.
Reflecting on a memorable encounter, Jenz said: “I remember that, because the game was before Christmas, I thought: ‘They are not going to have all their superstars, it’s going to be okay’.
“But 10 minutes before, they showed the team sheet and they had everyone with them. Then you get excited because these are the people you have been watching since you were small. These are the top guys at the top level.
“In the warm-up, you just forget. You don’t care who’s next to you, Sergio Ramos or Messi.
“On the football field, we are even. Maybe they have much better qualities, but if you work hard and make it difficult, you have a chance. In the end, you just focus.
“We managed to draw. The away game was a heavy defeat, but I was on the bench for that game, so I have a good record against PSG! Messi was just fantastic. For me, he’s just the greatest player.
“It’s impossible to man-mark him because he knows exactly where to be between the players. He gets the ball every time and you can’t get close to him.
“So, you need to have good cover and communication. You learn more things about how to organise and how to be tougher and make it quite nasty for them.”
Jenz is excited about the prospect of performing against the game’s top stars in the Champions League in the new season and, speaking to the Daily Record, continued: “We should not go into games with anything to fear because Celtic, if you see them in the league, they’re very brave.
“Attacking football, possession football. Last year Celtic played Leverkusen and were brave.
“They could have won the game out there, where they lost 3-2. So, you need to have the mentality to be brave and proud and to 100 per cent go for it.”
Jenz added: “At Celtic, you have to win, have to win trophies, have to be first, you can’t draw because a draw is a disaster and a loss is even more of a disaster – it’s where you want to be as a player.
“If you want to become a top player you have to play on a level where you are always 100 per cent in a game.”
*DON’T miss the unbeatable match report from Celtic v Norwich City this afternoon – only in your champion CQN.
