Celtic’s £11m record signing Arne Engels made his debut for his former club Augsburg away to Dortmund so the then 19-year old got his first taste of the incredible noise made by the 20,000 Dortmund fans in their Yellow Wall section of their iconic stadium…
And moving on two years the 21 year-old Engels made his European debut for Celtic last midweek in the 5-1 victory over Slovan Bratislava in the Champions League so got to experience that other world-famous atmosphere in world football, Celtic Park under the lights on a big European night.
Engels therefore is in an ideal position to compare the two but it would be unfair to call a winner on that one as both as the Celtic Noise and the the sound energy created by the Dortmund fans are clearly on a par and unrivalled anywhere else in the game.
Speaking about this Arne Engels started by recalling his debut match for Augsburg at Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund.
“I made my debut there. It was directly in front of 80,000 people. It was crazy, but it did bring the best out of me. It was a 4-3 defeat that day in Dortmund. It was a crazy game. Every time 1-1, 2-1, 2-2, 2-3. It was amazing to play in,” Arne Engels said, as reported by Football Scotland.
“I was 19. I grabbed an assist, so it was a perfect night for me. Augsburg were already a long time in the Bundesliga. They were in the middle table, or a bit below. So it’s obvious that Dortmund was expected to win easily, but it wasn’t like that. It was a good game,” the Celtic star recalled.
On the comparison with what he’s heard so far at Celtic Park, Engels reckons it’s very much on a par with the atmosphere created by the Yellow Wall in Dortmund.
“Here it’s also intimidating,” Engels said about Celtic Park. “It’s the same noise, even louder sometimes. So it’s nice to play here, when you have the fans with you and not against you.
“That’s also a different feeling and a really nice feeling. It’s going to be really good and helpful for me.”
Engels will be a key performer for Celtic in Dortmund on Tuesday night. Alongside the Celtic captain Callum McGregor and probably Reo Hatate, they have to take control of the middle of the park and help set Celtic up for a favourable result.
Before that Celtic are at St Johnstone in league action on Saturday in the later kick-off, while Dortmund’s Bundesliga match takes place on Friday evening. A league helping their clubs so that they can gain every advantage in European matches, it’ll never catch on in these parts, will it Mr Doncaster?
That’s why German football is considered the best when it comes to looking after the most important individuals in the game, the supporters. Which is reflected in their attendances. Teams thought out Scotland should think of implementing similar schemes. https://t.co/3Ki8GKx9l7
— JustAnOrdinaryBhoy (@ordinarybhoy) September 25, 2024
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