“It’s exceeded my expectations,” Schlupp’s loving playing for Celtic

The Celtic Star

·21 de fevereiro de 2025

“It’s exceeded my expectations,” Schlupp’s loving playing for Celtic

Jeffrey Schlupp’s outstanding performance for Celtic in the Allianz Arena on Tuesday night in the Champions League has got many Celtic supporters calling for the club to make him an offer in the summer when the 32 year-old’s contract with Crystal Palace comes to an end…

Jeffrey Schlupp Celtic Glasgow, 15, 18.02.2025, UEFA Champions League, Playoffs, FC Bayern Muenchen – Celtic Glasgow, Allianz Arena, Photo HMB Media Heiko Becker

We’re going to look at how Schlupp’s impact at Champions League level could reshape the club’s thinking as contracts negotiations go on behind the scenes. Before that however here’s what Jeffrey Schlupp had to say at today’s media conference at Lennoxtown ahead of tomorrow lunchtime’s kick-off against Hibs in the Scottish Premiership at Easter Road…

Vídeos OneFootball

Q: It’s been a few days now, how would you reflect on that performance versus Bayern Munich?

Jeffrey Schlupp: “Yeah, I mean, I think obviously speaking to everyone about it and reading some bits, it’s obviously a really proud performance. You know, it’s a shame with the way the game ended, obviously, but I think everyone can appreciate the effort that we put into it and, you know, we went toe-to-toe with one of the biggest teams in the world and I think we’ve done everyone proud.”

Q: In terms of taking pride from that, how can you then use that confidence going ahead or how much confidence does it give the squad?

Jeffrey Schlupp: “Loads. I mean, it’s a confident squad anyway, but, you know, the talk was always about what can we then, what’s the next step, which was obviously try and show everyone that we can compete in Europe, you know, at knockout stages. You know, we just fell short, obviously, this game, but I think it gives everyone great confidence and improving to ourselves as much as everyone else that we can definitely compete with with the elite and that’s the main thing.”

Jamal Musiala R of Bayern Munich vies with Jeffrey Schlupp of Celtic FC during the UEFA Champions League knockout phase play-off second leg football match between Bayern Munich and Celtic FC in Munich, Germany, February 18, 2025. Photo by /Xinhua Philippe Ruiz

Q: Falling short at that stage, how do you then make sure that doesn’t happen again next season?

Jeffrey Schlupp: “Yeah, I mean, you obviously learn from every defeat. You know, obviously next season, that’s a whole other topic, but I mean, you know, again, you just got to live in the moment. We’ve just come away from the Allianz Arena, drawing against Bayern Munich which is a great result in itself. Obviously, we lost the tie on aggregate, but again, we take all the confidence from that, hopefully take that into next season, the club and then hopefully the club can get one step up.”

Q: You’ve only been here a few weeks now, but did you expect the club to compete against such a big club, you know, especially going over to the Allianz Arena, leading for a lot of the game? Is that what you thought before you arrived, that Celtic could go toe to toe with Europe’s biggest?

Jeffrey Schlupp: “Yeah, I mean, I’ve always obviously watched Celtic play in the Champions League, but there’s been great results even before I got here. From when I got through the door, the first few games, I’ve seen the quality in the team and I mean, most of them have obviously written us off against Bayern Munich, but not us and not in the changing room, and I think everyone could see that with our performances in both games. We believed we could do something special. Again, we just fell short, but I mean, even from their camp, you know, everyone was saying how proud we should be, how much of a game we gave them and then again on another night, maybe we can see it through the 90 minutes and then, extra time, anything could have happened. But I mean, yeah, the quality is there for everyone to have seen and I definitely believed we could do something. We got a draw away to Bayern Munich, which is a big result.”

Jeffrey Schlupp (Celtic FC) and Michael Olise (FC Bayern München) battle for the ball during the UEFA Champions League 2024 25 League Knockout Play-off Second Leg match between FC Bayern München and Celtic FC at Allianz Arena on February 18, 2025 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Silas Schueller DeFodi Images)

Q: What’s the manager been saying in the last few days? Do you have to refocus now, just turn your attention purely to domestic matters?

Jeffrey Schlupp: “Yeah, for sure. We’ve got to focus on the league again now. Sometimes you get it where a team sort of, you’re on that massive high and then you maybe look at the next game against Hibs as, yeah, we’re supposed to beat them and then before you know it, you could maybe get an upset, which the manager’s making sure that we’re not in that kind of mindset. It’s another game on a mission to winning this league and everyone’s focused on doing that with hopefully a strong performance.”

Q: You had some shift personally the other night. Do you look back, or even in the game, do you relish that, are you loving it, like when it is so, I don’t know, like full throttle and 100mph, did you enjoy it the other night?

Jeffrey Schlupp: “Yeah, yeah, definitely. I mean, felt like everything was happening down my side to be honest. But yeah, you do enjoy it. You know you’re in a battle. You slide tackle and you’re running back, you’re giving everything and then the rewards is obviously massive, you know what I mean? Obviously, when you’ve got players, when you’re playing against top players, you don’t really have a choice but have to compete, which is what we all want to do, you know, I come to this club because I wanted to compete, I wanted to play games and to play in a massive game like that, it’s just bringing me joy obviously and I had great fun.”

Continued on the next page…

Celtic players pose for a photo on pitch prior to the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Knockout Play-off second leg match between FC Bayern München and Celtic FC at Allianz Arena on February 18, 2025 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)

Q: Do you get a taste of what it could be like at Celtic, even next season? Fans are wanting to ask you, do you see yourself, does that even make you hungrier or give you a tidbit to maybe stay beyond the summer for those kind of games next year as well and play them?

Jeffrey Schlupp: “Yeah, everyone’s asking that question but again, I’ve come here on loan to the end of the season, anything beyond that is out of my control at the minute. I’ve just got to focus on the league for now, you know, I want to win the league, I want to win the cup and then what will be, will be.

Vincent Kompany, Head Coach of Bayern Munich, reacts during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Knockout Play-off second leg match between FC Bayern München and Celtic FC at Allianz Arena on February 18, 2025 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images)

Q: Did you manage to speak to anybody over in Germany, just about the reaction from over there, did you pick it up yourself as well, what people over there were saying about Celtic?

Jeffrey Schlupp: “Yeah, I mean, obviously in the press after the game and stuff, you know, everyone was just obviously congratulating us. The players when we were coming off the pitch, their manager was just saying how great we’d done and how proud we should be of ourselves, we gave them a game in both legs. Any other night, it could have been a complete other way around. Just in general from everyone around the place, everyone was obviously saying how well we’d done. We got so close to getting a win on the night and then maybe forcing it to extra time, anything could have happened again. Everyone was full of praise, which was nice.”

Q: Is there even more confidence in the Celtic squad now?

Jeffrey Schlupp: “Yeah, yeah, confidence is sky high, of course. There’s a squad full of quality players with a top manager, so confidence is obviously high, yes. It was nice to show the world again that we can compete with the elite and prove to ourselves also that we can, go toe-to-toe with the best. There are so many positives to take from that experience and those games against Bayern Munich, which we will hopefully take into the rest of the season and hopefully we can finish that off, win the league and the Cup too.”

Jeffrey Schlupp (Celtic FC) looks on during the UEFA Champions League 2024 25 League Knockout Play-off Second Leg match between FC Bayern München and Celtic FC at Allianz Arena on February 18, 2025 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Silas Schueller DeFodi Images)

Q: We’ve touched on it already about how much you enjoyed the other night, but just in general, the first few weeks here, has it exceeded your expectations that you’re starting these big games and you enjoyed the experience in general as well?

Jeffrey Schlupp: “Yeah amazing, obviously coming here to hopefully get some game time, but knowing that the squad’s flying at the minute anyway, so to be able to play this much so soon is massive. Also, pretty much all the games have been at home, which has been great as well, so yeah, I’ve loved going out there in front of the fans. Everyone knows the history behind it, I’ve played there one time before I came here and I was just itching to play in front of the home fans and I’ve managed to do that more times than not. It exceeded my expectations probably, yeah. I knew what, sort of, a little bit of what to expect, but to actually, you know, play for Celtic at home has been amazing.”