Celtic will discover their opponents for the UEFA Champions League Group Stages on Thursday 31 August Brendan Rodgers, who returned to the club in the summer, said that his remit is to make supporters dream but he also admitted that he has to be realistic. The Irishman left Leicester City at the tail end of the Premier League season but was back in football in June after Ange Postecoglou swapped Glasgow for London, taking over at Tottenham Hotspur.
Brendan Rodgers managed in two Champions League campaigns during his first stint as manager and was quite unfortunate that Celtic were drawn in some tough groups after running the gauntlet of the qualifiers.
In his first season, Celtic were drawn with Manchester City, Barcelona and Borussia Monchengladbach. Three draws and three defeats were the sum of Celtic’s efforts that year but there were positive signs. Draws with Pep Guardiola’s City at Celtic Park and in Manchester as well as an away draw to Gladbach in Germany had fans dreaming going into the second season – not to mention the fact that an Invincible Treble had been secured domestically.
Playing that Manchester City side home and away and remaining unbeaten was perhaps a bigger achievement in retrospect than it seemed at the time. Indeed there would have been long odds available on that outcome in those two games which although ended in draws, Celtic could easily have won both. Gambling on the Champions league can be enjoyable but remember it’s always important to take steps to prevent gambling addiction so that it always remains fun and affordable.
The following season saw Celtic again make their way through the Qualifiers before drawing Bayern Munich, PSG and Anderlecht. Celtic were outclassed by the French side, who had spent heavily on Kylian Mbappe and Neymar Jnr that summer. Rodgers learned quickly that attempting to play possession-based football against superior teams was ill advised and the best challenge that Celtic made was the Hallowe’en clash against Bayern Munich, where Callum McGregor netted an equaliser shortly before Martinez headed the Germans ahead. An impressive 3-0 away victory to Anderlecht was all that Celtic had to show for their participation in the Group Stages that season as they dropped down into the Europa League, beating the Belgians 3-1 in the Head-to-Head.
The Europa League saw Russian side Zenit St Petersburg rock up in Glasgow’s East End for an electric evening of football. Celtic won the game thanks to a late goal from McGregor and there was reason for optimism heading into the second leg. Despite this, Celtic were beaten soundly with comical defending costing them and Roberto Mancini’s Zenit progressed.
The following year, Celtic exited the competition in the Qualifying Stages to AEK Athens with acrimony between Rodgers and the Celtic Board on show. Rodgers wanted John McGinn and Fabian Schar to bolster his squad. The seeds of his exit were being sown and that exit transpired after a Europa League exit to Valencia. Celtic weren’t at the races and Rodgers’ comments about quality were indicative of someone that felt that he couldn’t make the necessary step-up. Indeed, when he arrived at Leicester, he cited this as a reason for his departure.
This season, Rodgers will need to use some of the skills that he adapted in the English Premier League by making team selections and tactics on the basis of who you are up against. Wins against Guardiola, Conte, Klopp and Mourinho have served him well as evidence that he can do it. In order to succeed, however, Celtic will need to bring in quality players that have the attributes to cope with the demands of interchangeable tactics.
With just over a week remaining in the transfer window, Celtic need to back Rodgers by delivering talented players for the manager to successfully utilise. The Irishman should be making this abundantly clear in the wake of the shock League Cup exit at Kilmarnock on Sunday afternoon.
Celtic’s chances of making an impact in the Champions League Group stages could be determined by what happens in the closing days of the summer transfer window.
