Celtic boss makes bold claim about Champions League approach

When Brendan Rodgers returned for an unlikely second spell as Celtic manager last summer, a lot was made about the club's aspirations in the Champions League. We did not really notice that when it came to their transfer approach. But to be fair, the Hoops did a bit better in Europe, in terms of results.

They got a 2-2 draw against Atletico Madrid at home, and perhaps should have won the game. On the other hand, Celtic managed to get their first win in the Champions League after many years, getting the better of Feyenoord.

This season, UEFA are introducing a new format in the Champions League. Celtic will play at least eight games in the competition and four of them, seem like winnable ones.

Celtic have been drawn to face Slovan Bratislava, Borussia Dortmund, Atalanta, RB Leipzig, Club Brugge, Dinamo Zagreb, Young Boys and Aston Villa. Most fans are happy with the list of fixtures and it looks like Rodgers is looking forward to it as well.

Celtic boss makes bold claim about Champions League approach

As reported by 67 Hail Hail, Rodgers said while speaking to Celtic TV this week:

"All the games are going to be great experiences for us and games where we can measure ourselves at this level.

“The club have done some fantastic work in the market, it’s given us that strength. Now we can go into these games and really test ourselves. We can really push and see if we can come out as one of the teams that can qualify for a playoff place at the end of it. So we’ll give everything we can.

“We’ll be really positive in our approach. We know, we prepared for that over pre-season, there are going to be games where we just have to manage that and it can look slightly different for us. But our intent is to always impose ourselves in the game, to make it really, really difficult for the opposition that we are playing.

“That’s always our mantra. With and without the ball, whilst giving absolutely everything to our game and sacrificing ourselves to attack with everything we have and defend with everything we have. That’s what the Champions League will bring out of us, so I’m really looking forward to it. I cannot wait for it to start."

There seems to be a lot more confidence around Celtic regarding the Champions League this season than in the past. A lot of that has to do with the draw, even though there are no easy games in Europe's top competition.

On the other hand, we have seen this Celtic team get the better of top Premier League opposition in the summer, albeit in pre-season. The start to the campaign has been solid as well.

Let's see how Celtic end up doing in the Champions League. They will need to bring their A-game every time they take to the pitch in the competition. And then, perhaps, there could be a few positive results and a chance of making it to the next round.