Elena Sadiku: Celtic debut in Women's Champions League 'dream come true'

Celtic head coach Elena Sadiku said it will be a “dream come true” when she leads the Hoops into their first ever Women’s Champions League group game on Tuesday evening.

Sadiku’s side became the first from Scotland to reach the group stages of the competition with a 2-0 win over Ukrainian outfit Vorskla Poltava last month, triumphing 3-0 on aggregate.

Celtic open their Group B campaign against Dutch champions FC Twente at Hamilton’s New Douglas Park, with home and away ties following against Chelsea and Real Madrid before concluding the pool stage with a trip to the Netherlands on December 17.

“I treat it as a normal game, to be honest,” the 30-year-old Swede, who took up the reins in January, said at a press conference.

“I think the excitement was high when we got to the point of knowing we were going to play in the group stages of the Champions League.

“But right now it’s just about focusing on the game and what we need to do to perform well and try to win.

“Coming here is a dream come true. That’s something we talked about after winning the league – that we wanted to dream to get to the group stage, and to achieve this with the girls means everything to me.”

She added: “I think it will be a tense game, Twente are a good side, they’ve been showing great quality in the cup game against Ajax, and in the games that they’ve played so far, so we are expecting a tough game and I am very excited to see what the game is going to look like.”