Moussa Dembele walked out of Celtic Park with a signed match ball tucked under his arm and his place in Hoops folklore assured after a hat-trick against Rangers - but the striker believes it still wasn’t enough.

The 20-year-old watched the re-run of the game against Rangers and beat himself up after thinking that he should have scored more.

“It’s never enough; I scored three but I could have had more, I think,” he said. “Scoring that hat-trick was something huge because it hadn’t been done for years but you always think you could have improved on what you did.

“I could have scored more against Rangers. I analysed the game and saw things where I could improve. I’m still young and I’m still learning the game and I understand that you cannot have the perfect match.

“It doesn’t exist. You must always try to be perfect but you can never do it.

“So after the Rangers game I focussed on working every day to do better.”

His frustration was compounded when he then missed a spot-kick in the Nou Camp just days later as Celtic went from the high of a 5-1 win over their fiercest rivals to the kick in the teeth that 7-0 annihilation in the UEFA Champions League delivered.

“It was difficult going from winning against Rangers and feeling so great to then going to Barcelona and a result like that,” acknowledged the striker. “But like I said, you have to take the positives and learn from the negatives so you can try to improve it next time.”

Dembele remains the first choice penalty kick taker at the club and he has insisted that his confidence has been unaffected by the miss against the Catalans.

“I’m still on penalty duty, still confident,” he said.“I didn’t dwell on what happened in Barcelona. Everyone misses a penalty - even Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, the best players all miss at some time.

“The important thing is that when it happens you have to forget it and focus on making sure the next time you get a penalty you score.

“We can never know if it would have made any difference if I’d scored against Barcelona.”

Celtic have the chance to put the horrors of Barcelona to one side this week when they face Manchester City in their second group game in the competition.

Spurred on by home advantage there will be a feeling that Celtic might come out of their shell against the Barclays Premiership side, but the task facing them remains dauntingly significant.

Kevin de Bruyne, Raheem Sterling and Sergio Aguero are as formidable a trio that Celtic faced in Barcelona and will be capable of inflicting another painful lesson.

Leigh Griffiths is pushing to be in contention for the game against Pep Guardiola’s side and it is unlikely that there would be a place in Brendan Rodgers’ starting line-up for both forwards.

In many respects the experience of Griffiths would be expected to win him the jersey but Dembele has insisted that there is no rivalry between the two players.

“I always welcome a challenge,” said the forward. “Leigh is a good player and a good addition to the team. He was injured but now he’s back and that’s great for everyone.

“The manager will make up his mind as to who plays and I will be happy with his decision. But there is no rivalry between Leigh and myself – we get on quite well.

“He’s a good guy and so am I so there’s no fight between us. We both want to play and we both give 100 per cent but it’s good to have a striker like him alongside you because I know I need to be at my best when he’s around.

“Maybe we could both play together but, whatever happens, I’m glad he’s here.”

In any case, Dembele has no qualms about his decision to make the move to Glasgow this summer. The player has been open about the fact there were other offers and for bigger money, but the lure of Champions League was one that he found enticing.

Despite the experience of being thumped in the Nou Camp, the 20-year-old’s enthusiasm for Europe’s premier competition has not been diluted.

“That’s why I came here, for these special moments,” he said. “As a young player to go to the Nou Camp to play against the best team in the world is something great.

“In a game like that, even though the result was not what we wanted, it was valuable to see what it takes to be a top, top player and that’s what I learned from the Barcelona.

“It’s not hard to focus on Kilmarnock before Man City because I take it game by game. The Man City game will come but our first priority is to make sure we take three points from Kilmarnock.

“I think Celtic can make an impact in the Champions League. If we give our best and play to the level we are capable of then I think we can cause this Man City team some problems.”