Celtic belong in Champions League knockout stages - Arne Engels
Celtic have not reached that stage in 11 years
Arne Engels believes Celtic belong in the knockout stages of the Champions League as they look to take the next step towards that aim against Young Boys on Wednesday night.
The Scottish champions have not played knockout football in European football's elite club competition since 2012/13 when they lost to Italian giants Juventus in the last 16.
With six fixtures played in this season's revamped and expanded Champions League format, Brendan Rodgers' men are 21st in the 36-team table with nine points.
A win against the pointless Swiss side would secure a place in the play-off round and maintain hopes of an automatic place in the last 16, with a trip to Villa Park still to come in the final game.
Engels believes the 5-1 win over Slovan Bratislava in September - where he scored his first Champions League goal after signing from FC Augsburg for a record £11million in the summer - boosted confidence for the season ahead.
The 21-year-old Belgium midfielder said: "We are really ready as a squad and we also feel that we have qualities to make the difference.
"We feel also, in big games against good teams, that we can do really well and that we can perform.
"So of course, as a team, we all feel that we belong to the knockouts and we will do everything to go there.
"But we will see after the game. It is now just focusing on the game and the job that we need to do and after Aston Villa, we can hopefully talk about it.
"I don't want to talk about what if or what would be. We still need to achieve it and it's a big game for us coming up Wednesday and a big opportunity.
"It's not only the Champions League that we want to achieve and go through to the knockouts.
"We are also really focused on the cups and the league. But now it's the Champions League and we are really looking forward to that again."
Engels, speaking at the club's Lennoxtown's training complex, where he was promoting this week's Paradise Windfall, Celtic's matchday lottery, fondly recalled his penalty against Bratislava to put the home side 3-1 up and is expecting another "crazy" Celtic Park atmosphere when Young Boys visit.
He said: "It was unbelievable for me personally.
"It was the first time that I played in the Champions League.
"So experiencing that in Celtic Park and getting a really big win there was unbelievable for me, and also, I think for the team, that gave us a real boost that we can really achieve something this year with the squad that we have, with the qualities that we have. It was a really nice night.
"The supporters will be there again and we will be there, so it will be a really crazy night, hopefully.
"It's always unbelievable to play in Celtic Park, especially on the European nights.
"So I'm really looking forward to feeling that again and the team is also really looking forward to it."
However, while Celtic will be heavy favourites to beat a side that have yet to garner a point after six fixtures, Engels insisted it was "too easy" to think a home win was inevitable.
He said: "It's the Champions League and every team that is in the Champions League has a lot of qualities.
"Otherwise they wouldn't be in the Champions League.
"So we need to be on top of our game and we are ready for it as a team.
"We are focused on what we need to do and like we showed in these last weeks, we can create a lot of chances and I hope we will do the same again."
--
Hear all the latest news from across the UK on the hour, every hour, on Greatest Hits Radio on DAB, smartspeaker, at greatesthitsradio.co.uk, and on the Rayo app.