There’s nothing quite like Paradise – Kasper Schmeichel

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The Celtic Star

·2 Oktober 2025

There’s nothing quite like Paradise – Kasper Schmeichel

Kasper Schmeichel spoke to the media yesterday afternoon ahead of tonight’s Europa League encounter against Sporting Braga at Celtic Park…

Kasper Schmeichel media conference ahead of Celtic v Sporting Braga

Q: The manager was talking a lot about how well the team has played defensively. Clearly, you’re a part of that. How much is that music to your ears, and how well do you think you and the guys at the back do?

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Kasper Schmeichel:“Yeah, I think we’ve done very well. I think, at least in the time I’ve been here, we’ve been very, very solid. I think any good team is built on a solid defence. We as a team press very, very high up the pitch, and we defend very, very well everywhere. We minimise the opposition’s chances. I think we give ourselves a platform to go and win games. I’m very, very happy with that.”

Celtic goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel Celtic v Hibernian, Scottish Premiership, Celtic Park, 27 September 2025. Photo IMAGO Stuart Wallace IMAGO Shutterstock

Q: For you and the players, how important is Europe this season? It’s not where you wanted it to be in the Champions League. So, how important is Europe this season?

Kasper Schmeichel: “It’s massively important. This is our reality. We can’t affect the past now. All we can do is go and do as well as possible in this competition. So, it’s vitally important for us.”

Q: In terms of the fans tomorrow, the manager is urging them to turn up, he’s urging them to make noise, to make the atmosphere as hostile as possible. What would your message be to the fans, some of whom are unhappy with the way the club is being run at the minute?

Kasper Schmeichel: “Listen, I completely understand the fans’ frustrations. All I will say is we have the most incredible fans. Whether it’s Champions League, Scottish League, or Europa League, when we line up, I always look at the opposition bench and see their reaction. That just always tells me that this is special. I’ve played a lot of places, a lot of stadiums, and there’s nothing quite like this.

Your Silence is Deafening banner in the North Curve. Celtic v Hibernian, Scottish Premiership, Celtic Park, 27 September 2025. Photo Stuart Wallace IMAGO Shutterstock

“So, for us as players, it’s something we definitely don’t take for granted. For me personally, the career I’ve had, there is nothing more motivating than coming out at this pitch here, full stadium with that noise. I completely understand the frustration; I completely understand the fans wanting to voice their opinions. But we also need you. That would be my message. We need you, and it’s up to us, of course, to go and produce and to get that noise and get that energy in the stadium. That’s one of our biggest strengths, the support that we have. So, as many small advantages as we can get, we need to take them.”

Q: Is there anything the players might have to do differently tomorrow, with there being that 29-minute planned silent protest, not having that vocal backing, that vocal motivation from the supporters? Is there anything you think the players might need to do differently to motivate themselves for that opening period of the game?

Kasper Schmeichel: “We need to score, because people will cheer if we score, I think. No, I think at the end of the day, it’s our job to go and play football. Many of us went through a period in COVID without anybody in the stadium, so it’s not a new feeling to play in the quiet. But like I say, any time the noise in the stadium is what I know it can be, then it’s a huge advantage to us.”

Joe Hart and Kasper Schmeichel of Celtic ahead of kick-off Crvena zvezda v Celtic, UEFA Europa League, Football, Rajko Mitic Stadium, Belgrade, Serbia – 24 Sep 2025Belgrade Rajko Mitic Stadium Serbia Photo Nikola Krstic Shutterstock

Q: In terms of your ambitions for this competition, we saw how well the team did in the Champions League last season, getting through the league phase. Do you have a real feeling that this team are capable of going really deep into this competition?

Kasper Schmeichel: “That’s certainly the aim. Any time you put on a Celtic shirt, you’re expected to win, whether it’s in Europe, whether it’s in the Europa League, Champions League, whatever it is, you’re expected to win. And that’s the expectations that we have for ourselves. So, like I said before, this is an extremely important competition for us.”

Kasper Schmeichel at Firhill. Partick Thistle v Celtic. Premier Sports League Cup. Sunday 21 September. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Q: I wonder, on those protests and how silent it may be tomorrow night, how do you use your experience to navigate it yourself, but also to help younger players through that, who might not have been in that environment before?

Kasper Schmeichel: “I think the big difference is that this is our job. As much as we’ve all probably been football fans from a young age, a lot of us would have played youth team games and things where there hadn’t been any noise and there had been no crowds and these things. So, it won’t be something unusual to play in the quiet, but at the end of the day, you’re playing at Celtic Park in front of 60,000, so there doesn’t really need to be anything said. Like I said, it’s up to us to bring that energy, it’s up to us to score goals and get people on their feet and get people shouting.”

Kasper Scmeichel at Rugby Park, Kilmarnock v Celtic, 14 September 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Q: What could a positive result tomorrow night in this competition do for confidence and momentum, not just in the Europa League, but domestically too?

Kasper Schmeichel: “Winning breeds confidence, regardless of where it is or when it is; winning always breeds confidence. Any time you put on this shirt, you’ve got to win. There’s not really any difference between winning in any other competition.”

Q: What type of challenge are you expecting from Braga tomorrow night? What do you think they’ll bring to Celtic Park?

Kasper Schmeichel: “I think they’ll be a tough team to play against, very well organised. I think they’ll be aggressive, I think as a team they have good technical players, they’re very well structured and organised. It’ll be a tough game, but I’m very confident that if we play up to our potential, then we’ll be able to win the game.”

Q: Can you try to spin the hurt from not making it into the Champions League into a motivating factor in the Europa League to really make a dent in this competition and get as far as you can?

Kasper Schmeichel: “We can’t affect the past. That’s the nature of being a professional footballer: you have disappointments, you have highs, you have lows, you have to learn to deal with them and move on very fast. We had to move on after not making it into the Champions League; we had to refocus, and that’s what we’ve done. So that’s in the past; all we can do now is focus on getting good results in this competition.”

Q: What memories do you have from Portugal, and have you followed the Portuguese league?

Kasper Schmeichel: “Lots of good memories. Obviously, I lived there for two years and had a good part of my childhood there. It’s a place that will always be special to me and my family. We did our pre-season in Cascais this summer, and it was the first time for probably 20 years that I’ve been back to see my old house and my old school. It was nice to see. It holds a lot of good memories. Obviously, because of my connection to Portugal and to Sporting and these kinds of things, I look at the results. I have a couple of former teammates who play for Sporting, so I keep an eye on it.”

Conor Spence

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Celtic 3-0 St Mirren, Scottish Premier League, Celtic Park, 15 May 1982.Celtic captain Danny McGrain collects the championship trophy as Roy Aitken looks on. Photo The Celtic Wiki

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