Joe Hart in candid Celtic confession as he makes Champions League comparison with Manchester City

Joe Hart was a 23-year-old in the Champions League and felt he could take on the world. Now, having suffered some dips in his career since before returning to the highs at Parkhead, the Celtic keeper has a more rounded outlook.

He’s still thrilled to be back, he’s just seeing it differently. And he insists boss Ange Postecoglou has the squad believing they can have a real crack at the big guns. Hart and the squad are looking forward to Thursday’s group-stage draw.

At the age of 35, the Hoops No.1 is honest enough to confess that he felt those days might be gone. Hart said: “It’s crazy. There’s so much going on and you don’t even know who’s going to be in it yet. I live right in the moment and, even when it’s drawn, you’re not going to be playing them for a couple of weeks. But it’s a great time. It’s where the club wants to be, it’s where we want to be as players.

“These are definitely good times for me. I’ll be honest, there’s not many times when I’ve actually not been having a good time in football. From the outside, there have been moments in my career when I haven’t played. But constantly, I like to be part of a team, whatever way that might be.

“I’m playing football as a job, like wow. What a great feeling. I’ve always really enjoyed it. But maybe when I was younger, I can probably liken it to the first time I was getting in the Champions League when I was 23, you just expect the world to keep giving. That was how I felt at the time, whether that’s wrong or right.

“But I just wanted more, I felt like I could take on the world. I’m at a different stage of my life in terms of family and how I feel about things. But it’s still a great feeling, it’s still an exciting feeling.

“We grow up and we evolve. I don’t know