The Hoops take on Slovan Bratislava at home on Wednesday to start their Champions League campaign.
Celtic’s manager, Brendan Rodgers, believes that his team is prepared to take on the Champions League after maintaining their unbeaten start.
Six wins, seventeen goals, and five clean sheets from six domestic games were achieved with a 2-0 victory over Hearts on Saturday.
The William Hill Premiership champions take on Slovan Bratislava at home on Wednesday to kick off their European campaign, and Celtic supporters are feeling confident about their chances of winning in the new format that sees them play eight teams.
Their 10-year quest for a home group stage victory came to an end last season as they defeated Feyenoord in their final match of the tournament.
The Celtics are lot more cohesive and established now than they were a year ago, and Rodgers hopes to see his group build on their form in Europe.
“It really excites me,” he remarked. “I believe that our team is well-balanced. Of course, there are still certain things we could do better, but overall, I think we’ve accomplished a ton of really fantastic work this summer. I believe that things are going really well.
“There is a strong mentality. We’re prepared to take on the opposition. It’s okay; we are aware of the level at which we are playing. We’re going to go all out for it.
After winning 19 of the 24 awards since he first appeared on the scene, Aaron Rodgers emphasized that they should never take their “bread and butter” for granted or undervalue how challenging it is to achieve domestic success.
But one of his main reasons for coming back last year was to make inroads in Europe.
It was “a real, real challenge for us at the very highest level,” he remarked. There were a lot of excellent managers before me, so it has also been difficult.
“But now that we have a strong team and some room for improvement in our play, we hope to go in and really attack it.”
Rodgers handed record signing Arne Engels a first start against Hearts and the former Augsburg midfielder netted the opener from the spot before fellow deadline-day arrival Luke McCowan curled home late on.
Paulo Bernardo can consider himself unfortunate to drop out after his display against Rangers but Rodgers explained he had to think of the bigger picture and get Engels involved.
“It’s no good having a strong squad and then not using the players,” he said. “I like to make minimal changes, but I will still make changes.
“And I’ve said before, and I’ll repeat, I want to build a team here that has power, that has speed and has that creativity and unpredictability.
“And he certainly gives us that, especially on a European level. He’s come out of playing in one of the top five leagues in Europe and played very well in that. And that’s a player that we need and we’re very, very happy that he’s chosen to come here. So I want to get him in.”
Hearts have now lost seven consecutive matches but head coach Steven Naismith believes their form will turn.
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