Brendan Rodgers responds as Celtic told Champions League top eight still within touching distance, mathematically possible

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Brendan Rodgers was chuffed to see Celtic see off Young Boys to secure a Champions League knockout playoff spot.

The Hoops manager showed no nerves as his side earned their 1-0 win over the Swiss champions to guarantee themselves a place in the latter stages in what will be a straight shootout fixture.

A Celtic win was always necessary for progress in the competition and they have managed it with a game to spare against a raging Unai Emery‘s Aston Villa.

The Spanish boss issued a warning to Celts before his side’s defeat to AS Monaco last night as the Premier League side threw away what was a golden opportunity to seal a top eight spot to avoid any playoff of their own.

It’s now pressure on them next week with a confident Hoops heading to the Midlands for the matchday eight clash.

What is interesting, though, is that Rodgers’ side themselves are still in a really good spot in the table.

• READ MORE: ‘Who cares’ – Chris Sutton reacts to Celtic’s win over Young Boys to make Champions League knockout

Brendan Rodgers addresses Celtic Champions League top 8 talk

And with certain permutations – albeit perhaps unlikely ones – the Glasgow giants could incredibly still make the top eight themselves.

Yes, it would be nigh-on impossible. But mathematically it’s doable should every tiny detail go in their favour in the final week of the League Phase.

Asked about the possibility of the impossible happening, Rodgers admitted he hadn’t given it any thought as all the focus was on this evening’s victory that was, to some, expected to be a walkover.

Speaking at full-time the boss was honest.

He explained: “I haven’t really thought. Tonight was such a big night of expectation on the team.

“Everyone looking at us playing at home and against a team that hadn’t won and thinking it was gonna be easy and there’s absolutely no game at this level that’s easy.

“We didn’t get disappointed, we kept going, fighting, running and believing.

“We have to recover, a game at the weekend and then we’ll look forward to the eighth game at Villa. It’s an amazing stadium, one of the great grounds in the Premier League and we’ll look forward to that when it comes.”

Where reaching UCL knockouts ranks among Rodgers’ Celtic achievements

Asked where reaching the knockouts ranks among his Celtic achievements as manager across two stints, Rodgers brought himself back down to earth.

“The bread and butter here is always the domestic football,” he added.

“There’s, like I said, been a lot of critics of Celtic at this level so I’m very proud of the club and the supporters as there’s been so many moments and near misses. Tough times at this level.

“There’s no doubt in the 18 months there’s been progress and some big steps and this season we’ve shown that. We want to keep going, it’s a privilege to manage Celtic at this level but I want to be a Celtic manager at this level and be competitive and we’ve been that.”