Kasper Schmeichel made his Celtic bow in the early hours of Wednesday morning, starting and playing the first half of the Hoops’ thrilling 4-3 win over Manchester City.

Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers and Kasper Schmeichel embrace after the match REUTERS/Peter Powell EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or ‘live’ services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club /league/player publications. Please contact your account representative for further details.
The Dane was encouraging between the sticks. He made several top saves to deny Erling Haaland and was more than comfortable with the ball at his feet.
Despite being in the twilight of his career, Schmeichel still looks to be sharp as ever and will be Brendan Rodgers’ trusted number one for the new season, taking the reigns from his close friend Joe Hart.
After making his unofficial Celtic debut, the 37-year-old spoke out.
“The lads were brilliant, it was a good first half for us particularly”, he said (Sky Sports).
“I felt good. It’s two and a half weeks since I left the Euros so it’s not been so bad.
“I had one training session yesterday (Monday) and got into it today (Tuesday) so it felt good.”
Schmeichel does have some competition for his spot in the form of young Finnish stopper Viljami Sinisalo, but he will likely hold down the number-one jersey for this campaign at least.
In the meantime, Sinisalo has an invaluable opportunity to learn from a ‘keeper of the stature of Schmeichel before eventually going on to replace him in a year or two.