DEFENSIVE rock Cameron Carter-Vickers insists Celtic have grown as a group and learned from their Champions League experiences.
The USA central defender, now in his fourth season at the Hoops after originally arriving on a year-long loan from Spurs, has seen the club mature in the white-hot intensity of Europe’s elite competition.
Following the 5-1 rout of Slovan Bratislava on matchday one in September, the Hoops wobbled precariously on the ropes in Dortmund before succumbing to a humiliating 7-1 loss.
However, Brendan Rodgers’ men responded in a truly praiseworthy manner in the goalless draw with Europa League winners Atalanta in Bergamo and they followed up with Tuesday’s breathtaking 3-1 triumph over RB Leipzig in Glasgow to make a stunning statement in their quest to reach the knock-out stages.
EURO STAR…Nicolas Kuhn races away after scoring his second goal in the 3-1 win over RB Leipzig with Daizen Maeda about to add his congratulations.
Celtic now sit on seven points with four games still to play – two at home – and Belgian aces Club Brugge, 1-0 victors over Aston Villa in midweek, are next up at Parkhead a fortnight on Wednesday.
Carter-Vickers observed: “We’ve been in the Champions League for three years now and throughout that time it’s been a process of learning for us as a club.
“Now we feel like we’re ready and the belief has grown in the group. We know we can get to that level and it’s now just about doing that continuously. You can always improve.
“That’s what we’re trying to do, but, like I said before, the three years we’ve been in this competition now it’s been a process for us, a learning process and also a process for us to believe as a group of players.
“We’re at the stage now where a lot of us have played enough games now at this level to know we can perform here. It’s just about putting that together and giving it our all.”
The 26-year-old centre-back, who signed a permanent £6million deal in the summer of 2022, is adamant the team must continue to perform at full throttle to have a chance of gatecrashing the next stage of Europe’s premier competition.
UP FOR THE CUP…Cameron Carter-Vickers leaps high to bullet in Celtic’s first goal in the 6-0 rout of Aberdeen in the Premier Sports League Cup semi-final at Hampden.
Carter-Vickers, speaking to the Daily Record, continued: “We’ve taken it game by game and I don’t think we’ve got enough points yet to say we’re through this group phase.
“For us, it’s just about trying to perform at the highest level. Like we showed against Leipzig, if we do, we can get a result.”
After Club Brugge, the Hoops travel to Croatia to face Dinamo Zagreb on December 10 and then it’s back to Paradise on January 22 next year for the challenge of Switzerland’s Young Boys before bringing the qualifying crusade to a conclusion against Villa in the Midlands a week later.
Carter-Vickers acknowledged the overwhelming backing of the supporters and the part they continue to play when he stated: “Yes, 100 per cent. The fans definitely help. You see it before every Champions League game.
“The noise was incredible. As players, that gets you going. After Leipzig scored, we probably had to ride out maybe five or 10 minutes where we were maybe a bit slow in possession.
“They were getting a few counter-attacks and stuff like that, but the fans helped us through that. After that, I thought we were great.”
The defensive colossus and his team-mates now turn their attention back to the domestic scene with Sunday’s Premiership trip to take on Kilmarnock at Rugby Park, a venue where they lost twice last season before clinching their third successive title with a 5-0 romp on May 15.
A BIG HAND…Cameron Carter-Vickers applauds the Celtic fans.
Rodgers’ side limbered up with a devastating six-goal display against previously unbeaten Aberdeen in the Premier Sports League Cup semi-final at Hampden on Saturday.
Carter-Vickers, who triggered the avalanche against the Dons with the opening goal, added: “Obviously, last weekend was really good, but the Leipzig game was probably on a different level.
“They are a top team and you can tell that from where they’re sitting in the Bundesliga right now. For us to put in the performance that we did showed that we can perform at this level.
“It gives us belief going forward.”
ALEX’S ANGLE: REDEMPTION AMID THE RUBBLE
