Celtic star soaks in 'pretty magical' Bayern UCL occasion after turning FIFA gamer into reality at the Allianz
Celtic defender convinced Scottish champions can now mix it with the best club’s in Europe after their brave Bayern display
Auston Trusty is convinced that Celtic have proved they are ready to perform at the next level in the Champions League after their valiant display against Bayern Munich on Tuesday night.
The USA international, who jokingly admitted that the closest he got to the Allianz Arena as a youngster was playing famous computer game FIFA, admits the Hoops performance in Germany has given him belief there are even better times ahead of Celtic in European competition.
Brendan Rodgers’ side went down fighting in Bavaria as they secured a 1-1 draw against the Bundesliga leaders in their playoff second leg, but bowed out of this season’s competition following a heartbreaking 3-2 aggregate loss.
Despite the brutal nature of their exit, the performances across both games has only fuelled confidence levels at Parkhead that the Scottish champions can now mix it with the best clubs on the continent. And Trusty declared the opportunity to test himself against Bayern at one of the most iconic football stadiums in the the world was an experience he’ll never forget.
He admitted: “When I was back in the States playing, I was playing there on FIFA, you know. So, to have it in real life and to see the person playing the pitch and have the environment and stuff like that cheering us on and creating the atmosphere here, you know, it’s pretty magical.
“I mean, it is what dreams are made of. I would have liked another goal. I would have liked a couple more goals. We had some good chances. I think we had the best chances in the game. It was pretty amazing.
“Yeah, it was a unique performance. I think this is just the beginning of it. The mindset of this team, again, when people count us out, we back ourselves. So it’s only up from here.”
Celtic had been written off by the majority of pundits and onlookers after their 2-1 first leg defeat in Glasgow last week, but their showing at the Allianz made the rest of Europe sit up and take note of their improvement on the elite stage.
Rodgers’ men have come a long way since their 7-1 drubbing against Borussia Dortmund on matchday two and Trusty insists his team mates always retained faith in each other that they could compete at this level and showcase signs of promise for the future.
He said: “Coming here we had everyone who doubted us, everyone who counted us out. The result we got at the end of the day is something to be proud of and how we did this entire campaign is something to be proud of.
“The mindset was ‘why not us?’. We have the ability, we have the mindset, and it’s really up to us. We went out there and showed that, to come out here and get the result. The tie, we really should have won but we tied up at the end. It shows a lot of the team how much we back ourselves.
“Honestly, there’s been many highs throughout this entire campaign. I couldn’t pick just one but it’s a pleasure to play with these guys every single day, every single game. And a lot of teams, a lot of people, have counted us out in certain situations but to see us back each other and get results, that’s what it means to be a good player here.
“We’re extremely confident, you know. We were extremely confident coming into this game and against any team we play. That’s just the mindset of the team. We can only build from here and that’s really what you want to see.”