Mika Baur's Incredible Celtic Park Debut
Mika Baur walked into Celtic Park for the first time as a player and felt exactly what he’d seen for years through a television screen.
“Incredible,” he called it. Twice. Just to make sure the word did the night justice.
Now he wants more.
From TV dream to Parkhead reality
The 22-year-old German midfielder, signed from Paderborn this summer, made his Celtic home debut in last week’s 3-0 Champions League play-off first-leg win over LASK. He had already tasted Scottish football off the bench at Tannadice in the League Cup, but this was different. This was Celtic Park under the lights, Europe on the line, and a new signing thrown into the noise.
“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,” Baur said.
For him, this isn’t just another fixture in August. It’s the gateway to the competition he grew up watching.
“Playing in the Champions League is a dream for every young kid growing up watching football,” he added. He’s one step away from that dream, and he knows it.
Job not done
Celtic carry a 3-0 advantage into tonight’s second leg in Austria, a commanding lead that would tempt most dressing rooms into thinking the hard work is over. Martin O’Neill has made sure that message doesn’t land.
The manager has been clear: the tie is not finished.
Baur has taken that warning to heart.
“It’s difficult because we know they are a good team,” he said of LASK. “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 game. No hint of easing off. For a player still unpacking his bags in a new country, the mindset is already aligned with the demands of his new club: respect the opponent, protect the lead, and go win the second leg on its own terms.
Settling in under O’Neill
Away from the scoreline and the stakes, Baur is still adapting to life in Glasgow – new league, new city, new expectations. One constant in that whirlwind has been O’Neill.
The midfielder’s admiration for his manager is obvious.
“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.
There is a lot happening at once for the youngster. Training, games, a new style of football, and the everyday realities of moving country.
“There’s a lot going on at the moment, but I really enjoy it, 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.”
Between flat-hunting and learning a new dressing room, he is trying to nail down a place in a side on the brink of the Champions League group stage. The contrast is sharp: quiet streets and estate agents by day, roaring European nights by evening.
Tonight in Austria, Baur has a chance to turn that “incredible” debut into the start of something bigger – not just a memory of Celtic Park under the lights, but a ticket to the competition he has chased since he was a kid in front of the TV.
