I didn't like watching Jota at Celtic first time around for one key reason but now I hope he brings his swagger back
Luke McCowan sat on the Dens Park bench watching in awe as Celtic’s number 17 ran Dundee ragged.
When he eventually got on his team were 4-1 down with Jota causing havoc for the visitors. The second goal of his double - a clinical volley - was a thing of beauty and had taken the game away from the Dark Blues. McCowan always knew how good the Portuguese winger was. Because as a Hoops fan, he’d marvelled at his displays in Old Firm derbies against Rangers.
But that day on Tayside, he got to witness it first hand. It was November, 2021. Now, just over three years later, he’s getting up close and personal with Jota again. Only this time, they’re Celtic team-mates after the wide man’s sensational £9 million return to Parkhead last week. McCowan is getting used to playing alongside top talent in Brendan Rodgers’ side since arriving from Dens in the summer.
But he’s delighted that Jota’s back - and revealed that he's already hit the ground running at Lennoxtown. After previously going up against him twice as a Dundee player, he’s relieved they’re now on the same side. And ahead of Jota’s big comeback against Motherwell at Fir Park this afternoon, McCowan says he looks just as good as he did before he left in 2022.
Ahead of the Premiership clash, the midfielder said: “He’s been amazing in training so far. He’s looked very sharp, just like the last time I watched him. I played against him when he was at Celtic before a couple of years ago.
“So it’s just great to have him in the building. I hadn’t met him before but he’s such a nice guy. He’s immediately gelled back in, probably just like he did previously.
“What will he bring to our team? He’s similar to Nicolas Kuhn. He takes the ball and travels with it. He drives forward, commits people and wants to get shots off or assist goals.
“So by doing that I’m sure he’ll help us. I didn’t like watching him when I played against him. Because he was usually terrorising my team.
“But as a fan, I’d watch the derby games and some of the goals he scored in them were special. He had a swagger about him and hopefully he’ll have that again this time around.”
Jota certainly isn’t short on confidence. And that’s something Celtic’s players will need this month after being paired with Bayern Munich in the Champions League play-off tie. It’s mouth-watering stuff for Rodgers’ squad but particularly McCowan who was still plying his trade in the Scottish Championship not so long ago.
Four years - almost to the day - before the second leg in Munich, he was at Ayr losing to Inverness Caley Thistle. Now, he’s preparing to face all of Bayern’s big guns in the Allianz Arena - and he can’t wait.
McCowan said: “You’re talking about a massive club and a very successful club in the Champions League. So it’s going to be unreal and it’ll be my first ever time at Bayern’s stadium.
“It’s a bit surreal for me but the team is buzzing for it and looking forward to the challenge. I can’t wait to potentially come up against the likes of Manuel Neuer, Joshua Kimmich, Leroy Sane and Harry Kane. It’s incredible.
“Jamal Musiala is another I’ve watched. It’ll be great to see them in person and see the level they’re at. Hopefully we can try and match it.
“I’ve never been to the Allianz before. I watched the Germany v Scotland game at the Euros in the summer - they had a lot of Bayern players. Even that showed how hard a place it is to go and get a result.
“You certainly wouldn’t have pictured me four years ago doing this, that’s for sure. But I’m a Celtic player now, I need to forget that.
“I’ve played in Champions League matches already this season so that prepares you for games like this. And I’m surrounded by boys who have experience of these ties - so I’m learning from them every day.”
Rodgers will have to utilise his squad in the coming weeks with games in the Premiership, Scottish Cup - and that huge two-legged clash with the Bundesliga giants. So McCowan will be needed, none more so than today against managerless Well at Fir Park. After Stuart Kettlewell’s shock departure in midweek, the Celtic man is convinced the Steelemen will have extra motivation to beat the champions for their old gaffer.
He said: “Before the season started if you’d said I’d play for Celtic 23 times, I’d have bitten your hand off. But now that I’m here, I want to push for more. I’m really motivated for that. I want to add to that and really help the team. You’ll probably see a reaction from the Motherwell players on Sunday.
“You always get a tough game against them, you know what type of side they are. They’re robust and competitive anyway so it would have been a good game regardless.
“But I’m sure in their heads, that will be the motivation for them - to do it for their ex-manager. But from our point of view, we need to go there, put on a good performance and hopefully come away with a win.”
