Callum McGregor spoke to Celtic TV yesterday afternoon at Celtic’s summer training base in Austria and started by talking through wheat he’s been up to this summer and admitting that he’d actually had a couple of weeks without doing anything at all football related. An incredible admission from Calmac!
On the excitement of the new season, the successes of last year have been banked and now don’t mean anything as far as the new campaign is concerned. “Everyone starts at zero points, it’s now about what you do next and bettering your own game and collectively getting stronger.”
Callum McGregor during the UEFA Nations League match at the Aviva Stadium, Dublin. Saturday June 11, 2022. Photo Niall Carson
And on the retune to Champions League group stage football for the fist time in five years, McGregor was happy to reveal that he’d love a crack at the current Champions League holders Real Madrid and with it another chance to take on their Croatian talisman Luka Modric.
“Everybody keeps asking me that,” the Celtic captain admitted, in his interview with Celtic TV yesterday from the club’s pre-season training camp in Austria. “I’ve played in some pretty big ones but the one I haven’t played yet is Real Madrid and I think everyone will join me in saying that they want them in the group.
Photo: Luka Stanzl
The chance to one again go head-to-head with Real’s veteran superstar Luka Modric, who got the better of Scotland at Hampden in the Euros last summer is also appealing for McGregor. Modric, he reckoned, “ran the show that day as well (at Hampden) so I will try and get a bit closer to him!
“We are looking forward to it. Whoever we get we know it is a big competition and it will be a big test for us, so we have to be ready.”
On those Champions League night at Celtic Park, Calmac admitted that they are special. “As a football player it is the number one competition that you want to play in. It’s a huge, huge level and a huge challenge – and it certainly makes you a better player.
“I’m excited for this group to go in and challenge ourselves at the very highest level. It is an exciting thing for the group but ultimately we have to do the hard work and that’s the reward.”
