Mika Baur's Dream of Champions League at Celtic Park
Mika Baur walked out at Celtic Park for the first time last week and felt exactly what he had only ever seen on a screen.
“Incredible,” he called it. Twice. Just to make sure the word did the job.
Now the 22-year-old midfielder wants more than just the noise and the lights. He wants the Champions League.
From TV spectator to Parkhead stage
Baur arrived from Paderborn in the summer, eased in with a debut off the bench at Tannadice in the League Cup. Useful minutes, but not the moment he had imagined as a kid in Germany watching European nights on television.
That came in Glasgow.
“The atmosphere and energy in the stadium – I knew it before from sitting in front of the TV and now to feel it in real life is incredible, such a nice feeling,” he said, still sounding slightly wide-eyed at the memory of his first run-out at Celtic Park.
It helped that Celtic tore into LASK, winning 3-0 in the first leg of their Champions League play-off. A commanding scoreline, a statement performance, and for Baur, a perfect introduction to his new home.
Playing in this competition, he admits, is the dream that has always sat in the background.
“Playing in the Champions League is a dream for every young kid growing up watching football,” he said. For him, it is suddenly within touching distance.
No room for comfort against LASK
The job is not finished. Martin O'Neill has made that point repeatedly, refusing to let a three-goal cushion blur the reality of a tricky second leg in Austria.
Baur is on exactly the same page.
“It’s difficult because we know they are a good team,” he said. “They made a good match in Glasgow, so we know what we have to do. We need the same mentality and energy to hopefully win again.”
No talk of managing the tie. No talk of simply seeing it out. The message from the dressing room is clear: repeat the intensity, match the aggression, and don’t give LASK a glimmer of hope.
Settling in – and impressed by O’Neill
Off the pitch, Baur is still learning the city, the club and the expectations that come with both. On it, he is learning under a manager who has already made a deep impression.
“He makes us feel comfortable, his way to manage the team is different to how I know it in Germany, but he’s really, really impressive,” Baur said of O’Neill.
There is a lot happening at once. New teammates, a new style, a new league, a new city. Training, games, and then the mundane but necessary tasks: walking around Glasgow, hunting for an apartment, trying to build a life as well as a career.
“There’s a lot going on at the moment, but I really enjoy it,” he said. “To meet new people and play with them, it’s a different style but I really enjoy it and to walk around the city, look for apartments, it’s a nice time at the moment.”
Nice now. It could become something far bigger if Celtic finish the job against LASK and drag that Champions League dream out of his childhood and into the group-stage draw.
