Nir Bitton has been taking pointers from Virgil van Dijk as he acclimatises to life at the back with Celtic.

Bitton has deputised at various junctures this season at the heart of the Celtic defence due to the injury issues to Jozo Simunovic, Erik Sviatchenko and Dedryck Boyata and will be expected to line up against Bayern Munich on Tuesday night alongside Boyata.

Bitton remains close friends with former Celt Van Dijk and joked that he is well on his way to catching him.

“I am a £50 million player now!," laughed the Israeli internationalist. "Seriously, though, Virgil is a good friend of mine. He is top class. I don’t think there are many players who can do what Virgil does. I think there are many players who can do what Virgil does. But I think this is the reason why the gaffer plays us from - to take the ball, to drive forward, to find spaces, to pass the ball. I try to do my best.

“It is all about positioning. To be honest, playing at centre back came from nowhere for me. I remember the game against Rosenborg away. I didn’t think about coming on at centre back. But the gaffer trusted me, gave me an opportunity and I am happy that I did my best. Since then I have tried to learn my positioning. In every game I speak with the guys around me.”

"I have told Virgil I’m coming for him. Seriously, though, it is something that I really enjoy right now. As long as I play I am happy. As long as I am part of this team it is the best thing for me. I try to do my best.”

Bitton can be part of a team who makes a little history this afternoon, but the player has maintained that the focus of the club is not on records or stats but on incessant improvement.

“It’s always good to be part of a winning team, especially if you are breaking records," he said. "But it’s not something we really think about.

“It’s something we’ve managed to do. Tomorrow we can equal the record but it’s not something we go into – we just want to go out there, do our best and win the game.

“When you give it too much thought you can lose your concentration. It’s something for you guys in the media to think about but we just want to show everyone we are the best team in Scotland.

“It’s possible we can look back on it in the future. Someone told me that this record has been there for over 100 years so you never know- maybe ours can last for another 100 years.

“We just want to be the best. It’s hard to reach that level and even harder to stay there but that’s what we’ve managed to do. We’ve tried to show everyone that we’re not going anywhere.

“Every game we play we want to win it and by as many goals as we can. The win over Aberdeen on Wednesday was one of the best games I’ve played in with Celtic.

“The matches against them in the last few seasons had always been tough and we expected another one. Our build-up was exactly the same as it was for Bayern Munich.

“But I really enjoyed the way we played at Pittodrie. We controlled the game – dominated it. It was a complete game.”