Celtic's Arne Engels says league title win was 'like a drug'

Brendan Rodgers' men lifted their 55th flag in their history with a 5-0 victory over Dundee United at Tannadice on Saturday. Now the Belgian admits that he is determined to get addicted to success, just like previous Celtic teams of the past.

The first stop is completing the domestic treble in what would be the dream season on May 24 against Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup final at Hampden. The 21-year-old said: "It's an amazing feeling. It's my first. I cannot wait to get the other ones. It's like a bit of a drug that you want to achieve so much and win so much. 

"It would be an amazing season if we lifted the treble. It would be an amazing feeling to get a reward for it, of course. Everybody wants it. The main goal is all the trophies. There is still one to play for, and still a few more games in the league, and we want to end really strong. 

"We set our goals, and that's what we are now looking forward to. We will see that at the end of the season. Like I said, there's still one more trophy to go. We are just looking forward to that and working hard to perform really well.

"You need to have the right mindset going into the next games and keep yourself busy and keep yourself really focused and sharp so that you can be there where you need to be."

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It has been an unprecedented era of success for Celtic as they scooped their 13th title in 14 seasons and also made it four Scottish Premiership wins on the bounce. Engels is aware that the club will be asked to go again next season and repeat their exploits both domestically and in Europe.

He pinpointed Celtic's displays in the Champions League as his own personal highlight from the campaign, which saw Bundesliga outfit Bayern Munich edge the men in green and white out of the competition at the last 16 stage on a slender -2 aggregate. He said: "I think it shows that we are a really strong squad and have really good players in our team.

"That's also a really good feeling to have. You see it also in the Champions League games. We were close. It was a bit disappointing to get the last game against Bayern Munich, and the last 30 seconds to go against us. We showed everything against a really strong team, and we showed that we can perform at that level and be there. Everybody did well. The Champions League campaign was amazing. 

"Then the last game at the weekend, it was an amazing feeling to get it over the line finally. We worked really hard during the season, and we all deserve it. Now that it's finally done, we can move on and look forward to the other games.

"Every domestic record is almost broken as well, and there are still some games to play. We also set some goals and some records still to break. We are looking for that. Everybody is now also looking forward to breaking those things, and hopefully we can do that.

"Europe is a target next season, 100 per cent. We did it already. We had an amazing Champions League campaign. Of course, we want to do the same and even better next year.  

"Hopefully, everybody will still be there. We can move on and work from there. I think everybody is looking forward to it, although this season is not finished yet. 

Engels insists that he is a much different player now from the one who arrived at Celtic Park in the summer from German side Augsburg with the burden of an £11 million price tag weighing his young shoulders down. However, he admits that playing a game every three or four days between November and March was a bit of a culture shock for him and took some getting used to.

He joked that Rodgers was true to his word as playing for Celtic was relentless and not a 'holiday camp'. Engels said: "I think I am a bit more mature as a player because I'm here to try and win everything. That's also a different mindset from the one I had in Augsburg. It wasn't really all about winning everything, but not losing. 

"Here it's different. You're expected to win, and that's also a nice feeling for me because I also had that mindset already. It was easy for me to come in here and get on track with the boys and do the same things that they also did last year. 

"I'm still young and still improving and trying to do my best every day. I think everybody at the age of 21 is like this. It's trying to pick up things also, like somebody said in another interview, like from Callum (McGregor) or somebody else in training, that you're trying to pick up all the pieces that they are doing and trying to add that also to your game. 

"I'm learning, I'm doing my best, even at 21. I don't want to be that guy who says I'm still young because I'm playing professional football, and I need to show it every week. Celtic is all about winning. If you saw the schedule that we had from November to March, what the manager called the 'ultramarathon' - it was crazy.  We had a game every week and every mid-week. That was also a new thing for me, it was a new thing to adapt to.

"I had to learn how you deal with it and how you need to recover well and do all the right things, not just recovering but eat the right food, and get the right amount of sleep, it's all important.  Those are the little details that not everybody has seen because you need to show it on the pitch. We are trying our best every week to get those things up to the best kind of shape that we can be.

"I think we did that really well and that's why we have won two trophies out of three."

Next up for Engels and company is the small matter of an outing at Ibrox on Sunday against Rangers. There is a whiff of revenge in the air for the champions who have lost the last two Glasgow derby league matches against their city rivals. Engels said: "We want to win every game.

"It's not only the Rangers game that we want to win. Otherwise, you cannot be champions. Of course, it's a big game, and it is big also for us because we lost the last two.

"Everybody was disappointed about those two games, so it's up to us now to take revenge."

Meanwhile, Engels had another reason to celebrate as he was among four nominees for the PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year.

Engels will go up against Rangers attacker Hamza Igamane, Hearts striker James Wilson and Motherwell midfielder Lennon Miller for the prestigious award, which will be announced on Sunday, May 4th at the PFA Scotland Awards dinner at the Hilton Hotel in Glasgow. Engels said: "I'm happy about the nomination. It's a bit of a reward for putting in all the work every day. So, it's a really nice feeling."

"I think my season has been decent in a good way. I'm improving every day. I'm trying to do my best every week and trying to win the games, and that's the most important thing.

"My own performances have been decent, so I cannot complain about it. This is also a bit of a reward that you're getting. So, it's nice."