Speaking exclusively to Celtic TV, he said: “I’m very excited and more importantly the players are excited.

“I think at a club like Celtic, domestic football is always your bread and butter, it’s what you want to be on top of, but ultimately the barometer is probably in Europe.

“At the level we’re at, we look for performances and individuals developing and what better way to mark yourself than against the best teams in Europe.

“We’re looking forward to seeing how the players react to it and if we stick to what we’ve done from day one then we will be tough to stop.

“The biggest message to the players is to have zero apprehension. We have a way that we’ve worked on since day one of pre-season and the players have bought into it 100 per cent and applied themselves every day to it.

“It’s hopefully a mirror image of what the first team are doing, but when you come to what are perceived to be bigger games then players can tense up and second guess themselves.

'All we ask of the players is to have zero apprehension, believe in what they’ve done from day one and go for it.'

“The reason we have this style from the manager is that we feel if we perform to our highest level then we will be tough to stop and I believe that with this team in these games."

Part of that development will see the young Hoops mirror the first team in travelling around Europe for a midweek match and then going again on the domestic stage at the weekend.

It’s a cycle that O’Dea knows too well from his own days as a Celtic player and he believes it will be a vital education to the Bhoys.

He added: “Going into the Lowland League and getting competitive football has been fantastic and obviously we’ve followed that on this year.

“Drip feeding the highest level of the elite game age in between Lowland League football is mirroring the style, philosophy and culture of the first team.

'The first team will play domestically and then they travel to Europe, so from a development point of view, it’s a great recipe.'

“That’s Celtic, it’s where Celtic should be and it’s the measure of any player here. When I was here, that was a message that Tommy Burns would drill into us, that every game is important at Celtic and you have to compete.

“But you get judged on the big games and they don’t get bigger than in Europe, and Real Madrid is up next and hopefully it brings out our best performance yet."

Darren O'Dea: UEFA Youth League is going to be a vital learning experience for the players