A word about Celtic's Moritz Jenz...

This newsletter won't be a long one - as I write it I'm currently trawling through mountains of StatsBomb data for our Shakhtar Donetsk data round-up - but I figured I'd use it to highlight one player in particular who impressed me on Tuesday night.

When he first signed for Celtic I wrote in this very column that Moritz Jenz comparing himself stylistically to Leonardo Bonucci was yet to be backed up statistically in any meaningful way during his career so far.

I used an NBA-style statline to try to highlight the 'usual' Jenz performance ahead of his arrival. This was:

– 41.3 passes attempted (87.4 per cent success; 36 accurate passes per 90); 5.6 long passes attempted (52 per cent success); 0.6 progressive runs; 9 duels won (62.1 per cent overall duel success rate); 2.5 aerial duels won (62.2 per cent overall aerial success rate); 5.1 interceptions; 10.5 recoveries; 3.4 clearances; 1.07 fouls conceded

Yet team style impacts these metrics. He played for teams playing mid-table or lower and never for a side that presses as intensely or places as much onus on their centre-backs in build-up as Celtic does.

Simply put, I said he would fly or fall by his own words and that we'd have to suck it and see as to whether Jenz had it in him to become the Bonucci type he hoped to be.

After a few months at Celtic, with all the responsibility being a Parkhead centre-back brings, he has started to demonstrate qualities that could well lead to a permanent arrival at the end of his loan deal.

So far his Celtic record in those same metrics is:

–  76.8 passes attempted (92.1 per cent success; 70 accurate passes per 90); 3.1 long passes attempted (34 per cent success); 3.9 progressive runs; 3.3 duels won (69.4 per cent overall duel success rate); 2.2 aerial duels won (62.3 per cent overall aerial success rate); 4.8 interceptions; 11.5 recoveries; 2.7 clearances; 0.9 fouls conceded

The impact of being a Celtic centre-back is, you feel, exceedingly clear in the data.

He showed right away that he liked to be on the ball but occasionally the time he took to make a decision with it hindered his effectiveness in build-up play.

He was also, it must be said, one of the poorest players on the pitch only weeks ago in his homeland against RB Leipzig. I was particularly critical of him for that display in the detailed match ratings afterwards.

And yet in the matches since he has flourished. That Cameron Carter-Vickers' return from injury coincides with this is surely not mere serendipity but, nonetheless, Jenz has had two impressive Champions League games in a row.

First, he put his Leipzig performance behind him with a very good showing against the same team in Glasgow a week later. Then, on Tuesday, he doubled down with an even better one to outshine even Carter-Vickers with his composed, assertive outing against Shakhtar.

His quick and incisive pass to Sead Haksabanovic created the opening goal but defensively, too, he stood out with two tackles, an interception, two clearances and winning two of his three aerial duels. He was also, notably, not dribbled past at all throughout the game either.

I said this wouldn't be long so before this turns from a tip of the cap to a full-on deep-dive, let's end it there.

Fly or fall? Against Shakhtar, I thought Jenz was positively soaring.

This piece is an extract from today’s Celtic Digest newsletter, which is emailed out at 4pm every weekday with a round-up of the day's top stories and exclusive analysis from The Celtic Way team.

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