A chance for Celtic and Brendan Rodgers to do something they haven’t done in a long while and that’s progress to the Champions League knockout stages.
Let’s be honest, you couldn’t have asked for a better fixture as Celtic host Young Boys at Parkhead on Wednesday night.
The Swiss champions, who are struggling domestically this season, are sitting bottom of the 36-team Champions League group and have lost every game so far.
The Bhoys are on nine points, two points above the dreaded drop zone, where a certain PSG sit, and four points behind Lille who hold the final top-eight spot.
This is well and truly in Celtic’s hands! Rodgers has had many difficult moments in Europe over the years and three points here won’t just be seismic for the club, but for the man himself.
Brendan Rodgers reacts to ‘generational’ chance for Celtic in the Champions League
Celtic’s drubbing away at Borussia Dortmund in match week two was a massive blow, but it has been the only major blip in Europe this season.
From Celtic’s performance against RB Leipzig to the clean sheet away at Atalanta, which looks even better now given how strong they are going in Serie A.
That’s why Rodgers rightfully pointed out that he has been pleased with the team’s performances on Europe’s biggest stage, as he told Celtic TV.
“If we can get through and into the play-offs, it has been a generation really since we have been able to do that as a club,” said Rodgers.
“Definitely, more importantly for me, in terms of the performances, as well as the results, some of our performance level in the Champions League has really shown that we belong there.
“We just want to continue with that. The whole idea was to sustain it over a period of time. We have a great opportunity to make those play-offs.”
Rodgers reacts to ‘confusing’ Champions League format
There has been a lot of noise across Europe about the increase in fixtures and how players are being worn out.
That was taken up a notch when UEFA revamped the Champions League format this season by adding two extra games and putting everyone into one huge table.
Whilst many moan about the new format because of the extra games, they simply don’t like change or because it’s ‘confusing’.
The man in Celtic’s dugout loves the revamp because it has helped the champions of Scotland.
Brendan was asked: ‘The Champions League format changed this year, one big league of 36 teams playing eight different opposition only once. It has been confusing for some and quite difficult to work out the different permutations on a matchday. But has the new format been beneficial to Celtic in any way?”
Rodgers responded: “I believe so. I think that, in many ways, you get your pot one teams that are in there. But you also get your other teams from the other pots that give you that opportunity, in order to qualify.
“The older format was always a challenge for a club like Celtic. It gives us a chance. It’s great playing different teams. Yes, you would love to say that you would love to play Borussia Dortmund at home after the game there, but playing different teams and going to different cities for the supporters as well as us, I think it has been really good. I think the format has worked, thus far, so well.”
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