Callum McGregor: Celtic had a point to prove with Champions League win

Celtic captain Callum McGregor admits his side had a point to prove in the Champions League, and showed what they could do in the 3-1 win over RB Leipzig.

A Nicolas Kuhn double and a strike from Reo Hatate saw Celtic bounce back from a goal down to register an emphatic win over a side sitting second in the Bundesliga.

The result followed an impressive 0-0 draw with Atalanta in Bergamo, marking a huge turnaround from the bruising 7-1 defeat to Borussia Dortmund in Germany just five weeks ago.

McGregor said that showing a response to that loss had been a major motivation, with the players wanting to demonstrate that they have the ability to compete at elite level.

He said: “Obviously we spoke before Atalanta about showing we’re a good team and that we’ve got to show that on the pitch.

“I think you can probably tell but over the last two games we’ve had a bit of a point to prove in terms of the work ethic of the team and being together,” the Celtic skipper said. “You have to fight for everything at this level.

“I think that’s shown the players that [work-rate] has to be the starting point for games like this.

“So when the games come along we have to show the same attitude and then hopefully we can bring the same quality and the same intensity to games.

“We’ll try and accumulate as many points as we can.”

Celtic have already racked up seven points, with the 5-1 opening day over Slovan Bratislava having been a high point and a stand-out result in recent years. McGregor believes Tuesday’s win eclipsed that.

He said: “Against a top, top opponent then to go and put in a performance like that and show so much control in the game and so much quality to the point where you’re comfortable in the last ten minutes, it’s probably a sign of where we’ve come from.

“I think that’s another step up from Bratislava.”

Celtic now have four more League Phase games to build up a points total that can take them to the knockout stages.

Reflecting on Champions League nights from last season and this, McGregor believes lessons have been learned that will stand them in good stead, with an emphasis on getting games over the line and delivering results.

He said: “The gaffer said at half-time ‘We don’t want to be a nearly team and at 2-1 up the game is in the balance. Let’s go and kill it off and make it 3-1′.

“It speaks volumes about the learning and from the games last season.

“That’s what we want to be. Not a nearly team but one that gets the job done and gets results.

“Hopefully that’s another one in the bank for us and we can then look at the next couple of games and maximise what we can get out of this league phase.”