“Glasgow reminds me of Philadelphia so it does feel like home,” Auston Trusty

In partnership with

The Celtic Star

·12. Februar 2025

“Glasgow reminds me of Philadelphia so it does feel like home,” Auston Trusty

Auston Trusty spoke to The Celtic Star at yesterday’s media conference ahead of this evening’s Champions League knockout playoff clash against Bayern Munich at Paradise…

Auston Trusty during the UEFA Champions League Media Conference on February 11, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Q: How much are the boys looking forward to tomorrow night?

OneFootball Videos

Auston Trusty: “Yeah, I think we’re all really excited. It’s a great opportunity for one, the club, but also us individually and us as a collective to take advantage and play our game.”

Q: Talk to us about the mentality of the team going into the game against one of the European powerhouses Bayern Munich?

Auston Trusty: “Just the same mentality we’ve had, and I think it’s just the Celtic way and how we approach things. When I first walked into the doors you immediately feel just how guys approach it and how the organisation approaches the game and everything in between. But the mentality’s not changing, we’re just playing our game.”

Players of FC Bayern München pose for a picture prior to the UEFA Champions League match between FC Bayern München and SK Slovan Bratislava at Football Arena Munich on January 29, 2025 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)

Q: I remember speaking to you after the game in Villa Park and it was either Bayern Munich or Real Madrid and you said you weren’t too concerned about who it was going to be because you and the boys believe you can take anyone on on your day. That’s what you’re expecting tomorrow night, and you do believe that you can go out there and beat Bayern Munich?

Auston Trusty: “Yeah, 100%. I back our team with everything. When we are on it and when we play our game and we have the right mindset and we play as a collective, I truly back us against anybody. So, it’s really up to us.”

Harry Kane of FC Bayern München runs during the UEFA Champions League match between FC Bayern München and SK Slovan Bratislava at Football Arena Munich on January 29, 2025. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)

Q: How exciting is the prospect of coming up against Harry Kane, a player of his quality?

Auston Trusty: “I’ve played against many players who are world class and who are great players as well. But as a defender you kind of look forward to those games and you want to test yourself. He’s backed by a lot of people, and he’s shown a lot of people he can do amazing things. But as a defender you want to show that you can stop that and do your best.

Q: What have your friends and family been saying ahead of this? Have you had many requests for tickets?”

Auston Trusty: “Yeah, but everyone’s back in the States so it’s a little hard to get here from there. But the ones, my friends here, they’re all trying to come.”

Auston Trusty during the UEFA Champions League training at Lennoxtown Training on February 11, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Q: For you personally, how highly does this game rate and rank in your career so far? Bayern Munich in the knockout stages of the Champions League.

Auston Trusty:“It’s definitely up there. I think as a little kid growing up in Pennsylvania, to hear you say that I would think you’re lying. For me to have this opportunity to be here playing for Celtic and to be playing Bayern Munich at Celtic Park tomorrow with the fans and the amazing environment and all that, it’s what dreams are made of. It’s what I could have only dreamt of as a little kid in my bed while I was sleeping.”

Q: Talk to me about the progress that you personally have made and also the team in terms of playing and the manager saying how happy he is with the development and the progress. For you as a player, what does that mean?

Auston Trusty:“I think it’s just backing yourself. I think when you play certain teams, but when you’re in this competition, it’s the best club competition in the entire world. So when you’re given the opportunity to play against the best players in the entire world and you can back yourself and you can show yourself and show it to your team, and as a team you can show it to yourself that we can play here, we’re just as good, we can thrive and we can win games. I think as a team, and individually, it just makes you back yourself more.”

Daizen Maeda and Austo Trusty during the UEFA Champions League Training at Lennoxtown on February 11, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Q: Can I ask you about one of your own teammates? Daizen Maeda is available to play. What’s he like to play against in training?

Auston Trusty: “Yeah, Daizen’s amazing. He’s really, really good and I’m happy he’s on my side and I’m happy to play with him. I think we have a lot of guys, and in training, we train a good bit, but a lot of its recovery and you don’t really get the chances to go one-on-one and a lot of guys work on their individual skills, but yeah, Daizen’s amazing.”

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers is seen during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Knockout Play-off first leg Press Conference on February 11, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Q: You’ve talked about that belief there. The manager just there talked about how much you’re all excited for the tie. How key is it that you go into this game with no fear, and it is a positive mindset, it is excitement, it is let’s test ourselves against the best?

Auston Trusty: “We’re at home and I think we’ve shown to each other and to hopefully you guys as well, that we back ourselves and we can go out there and actually get a result. So, I think there’s no reason to play with fear. We have nothing to lose. The only thing is the game. And if we go out there and do our thing, I think we truly believe that we can get a result that we favour, that’s in our favour.”

Celtic v RB Leipzig – UEFA Champions League – League Stage – Celtic Park (back to front, left to right) Celtic’s Nicolas Kuhn, Auston Trusty, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Arne Engels, Alistair Johnston, goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, Daizen Maeda, Greg Taylor, Callum McGregor, Reo Hatate and Kyogo Furuhashi before the UEFA Champions League, league stage match at Celtic Park, on Tuesday November 5, 2024. Photo Andrew Milligan

Q: I want to ask about Champions League nights at Celtic Park so far. How has your experience of those been? And I guess this one’s probably going to take it up a notch as well tomorrow night?

Auston Trusty: “Yeah, I can assume tomorrow is going to be just even crazier than it has been. But yeah, it’s honestly just a dream come true. You hear the story, I mean, growing up in the States, you hear the story about Celtic Park but you don’t really understand until you’re here. So, when I’m out on the pitch and you just hear the theme song play and then everyone’s just screaming, it’s just amazing. It really gets you riled up for the game and you just want to give your all for everybody. So, the fans do play a huge part and it’s nice that they’re behind us and we’re at the stadium.”

Cameron Carter-Vickers and Auston Trusty during the UEFA Champions League Training at Lennoxtown Training on February 11, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

The Celtic Star: Auston, this will be your ninth Champions League match for Celtic since arriving this summer. How much have you enjoyed building up that formidable partnership with Cameron Carter-Vickers at the back?

Auston Trusty: “It’s been great. Cam and also everyone on the team. I’m new here. I’m the new guy on the pitch with them. So, everyone here is welcoming me with open arms and every game I’ve gotten with them, every minute I can, our chemistry is just building and building. So, to play with Cam, play with everyone in the back line and the guys in front of me, it’s just been really, really good.”

Q: Auston, how much work has gone in behind the scenes for tactical flexibility in these games? Whether you’re pressing really high up the pitch or sitting out a bit more compact, how much work goes into being flexible so we can do different formations and tactics and try and get a win here?

Auston Trusty: “I’m sure a lot. I mean, that’s behind the scenes. That’s more the gaffer and his staff really putting us in the best position as possible to have success in this game. So, I’m not really in tune with that. I have my instructions and how we want to play the game, which I’m not going to give away. But yeah, they’re world-class. The coaching staff and everyone he has working for him, for the gaffer, they’re really good. So, we’re well prepared.”

Auston Trusty during the UEFA Champions League Media Conference on February 11, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Q: Is that one-to-one on the formation they play or the specific players? Do you get a little bit of work with you specifically and the defenders and with some of the analysts behind the scenes?

Auston Trusty: “Yeah, any resource we need, any information we need is given to us. And anything more in excess that we require, they’re there for us. Anything we need. So one-on-one as a group, collectively as a back line or midfield or forwards, we’ve got it all.”

Q: It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster of a Champions League campaign from the lows of Dortmund to then the highs of Leipzig. Have you got a particular individual or highlight that stands out for you in terms of the campaign so far?

Auston Trusty: “I’m not sure. You mentioned the lows and the highs. I think in order for us to have the highs, we needed the low. Obviously, you don’t want the Dortmund loss like that. That was one of my first games here. So, me walking into this new environment to see a low like that and see how the guys react, I’m looking at it. I’m like, okay, what kind of environment am I in? But to see the guys just grind even more and grind for the results and really show that we have a backbone to the team, it means a lot. To walk into an environment like that, that’s what you want to play for.”

Auston Trusty of Celtic during the UEFA Champions League Training Session at Lennoxtown on February 11, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

The Celtic Star: What has it been like for yourself to go from performances because so often it’s that transition very quickly, and then you’re back to a domestic match. How has that been for yourself personally?

Auston Trusty: “It’s been good. I think from the whole organisation; they don’t let you slip up. They don’t let you change your mindset. It’s very easy to – you’re playing Bayern Munich, then all of a sudden, you’re playing another team. So, it’s very easy to switch off. But the coaching staff and players, they don’t let you slip up and your mindset shifts. We’re really just approaching every game in the Celtic way, and the Celtic way is to approach every game with 100% and give your all.”

Philadelphia Eagles fans celebrate the win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Super Bowl LIX against the Kansas City Chiefs on February 9, 2025 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Eagles are won their first Super Bowl since 2018 and prevented a “three-peat” by Kansas City. (Photo by Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images)

Q: Congratulations to your Philadelphia Eagles on winning the Super Bowl. What was your experience for watching that, and how would you compare the Philly fans to the Celtic fans?

Auston Trusty: “Thank you. That’s a good question. Yeah, no, the Eagles winning, that’s amazing. I tried staying up, but it was so late I was falling asleep. But woke up and I knew when I turned my phone on, my phone was blowing up. So, to see that they won in the fashion that they won, it’s amazing. Yeah, the celebrations I saw on Instagram, everyone just going absolutely crazy. They went crazy the time before. But they’re greasing the poles beforehand, knowing that they were going to try to climb them. But yeah, overall, it’s amazing.

“I think the Philly fans are, you know, I think the Celtic fans are loud and they’re really loyal. I think Philly fans can be really, really similar to that as well. I mean, there’s good and there’s bad, but there’s also, you know, at the end of the day, we’re all in it together and everyone has each other’s backs. And, you know, I think playing in both green colours works as well. Glasgow reminds me of Philadelphia a lot, so it does feel like home.”