The Scottish champions were dominant against continental opposition, to the point where they looked perfectly at home. New format, new Celtic, new danger.
The paucity of Slovan Bratislava will most likely be borne out by subsequent Champions League outings but Brendan Rodgers and Celtic were fully entitled to relish what played out here after year upon year of European turmoil. Rodgers and his players will travel to face Borussia Dortmund believing this environment need not be such a chastising one after all. In their 13th attempt, Celtic finally opened the Champions League proper with victory. In case anybody had neglected to notice, the star of Celtic's manager is on the rise again.
The confidence exuded by Rodgers before this fixture owed everything to an imperious opening to the domestic season. Celtic, though, had been in this movie before: untouchable in Scotland while unable to keep pace with even mediocre teams in Europe.
Their opposition here always looked favourable, which in fairness to Celtic has not always been the case over the past decade.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der September 19, 2024-Ausgabe von The Guardian.
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