“To be honest” – Celtic F.C. Midfielder Reo Hatate delivers his assessment about playing against Champions League winners Real Madrid

These days, Celtic hasn’t had a great record in the Champions League over the last ten years.

The fact that Celtic is ranked so low in UEFA’s club coefficiency tables shows this, but Brendan Rodgers wants to change that this season.

Rodgers will want to get more than the one win and four points he got last season, since Celtic’s boss wants to add quality to his team.

Reo Hatate has played in the group rounds of the Champions League for two years in a row. In this article, the Japanese midfielder talks about how he really feels about his games against the best teams in Europe.

What Hatate thought about Celtic vs. Real Madrid, Feyenoord vs. Lazio

Some of the best midfielders in Europe have played against the Japanese player, and he has also lost some very tough games.

As Hatate gets ready for another chance to play against the best teams in Europe, he thinks about how well Celtic have done in the past.

Hatate told Ryohie Hayashi’s Football Seminar, “To be honest, I have a strong memory of when we played Real Madrid (in the 2022–23 season), but I thought that football was played very differently in different countries.”

“Feyenoord were much faster than Scotland at keeping the ball, moving from defense to attack, and beginning the attack with a crack.”

“But we had choices, and I think the outcome would have been different if we had been able to make them.”

“When we played Lazio, the coach organized the team well, and it was fun to play against them, but I only noticed how physically strong each player was.”

“I really felt that the players in the so-called ‘big five’ leagues were very physically skilled, and the Champions League was the only time I could see that.”

Hatate hasn’t played in a Champions League game yet because he was hurt the night Gustaf Lagerbielke scored in Celtic’s 2-1 win over Feyenoord.

Hatate, the Japanese defender, wants to change that this season by playing well. If he does, it will help him reach his goal of playing in the English Premier League one day.