Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers’ classy message to Arsenal and Kieran Tierney after Real Madrid heroics

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Brendan Rodgers has enjoyed some superb Champions League moments with Celtic this season.

The Celtic manager has enjoyed wins over RB Leipzig, Young Boys and Slovan Bratislava as well as creditable away draws against Atalanta and Dinamo Zagreb.

Those performances helped Celtic qualify from the Champions League group phase and into glamour knock-out tie in which Rodgers’ Hoops gave Bayern Munich a fright with a draw in Germany.

But ultimately, that result wasn’t enough to continue Celtic’s journey in the competition but it still did not stop Rodgers from sending Arsenal and Hoops-bound Kieran Tierney after beating Real Madrid to secure their place in the semi-final this week.

• READ MORE: John McGinn shares what he really thinks of Kieran Tierney joining Celtic after Arsenal beat Real Madrid

Brendan Rodgers hails Kieran Tierney & Arsenal’s ‘fantastic’ Champions League campaign

Whilst Rodgers narrowly missed out on a last-16 place amongst Europe’s elite, the Celtic boss still found the time to send the Premier League club and Tierney a message about their superb wins over Real Madrid over two legs.

Rodgers told Celtic TV, “When he comes back, irrelevant of his experiences, we will improve as a squad when he comes back. But I’m really pleased for him.

“It was a fantastic performance by Arsenal over the two legs and to see him be involved in that is obviously a great experience for him. It’s going to be a really exciting last couple of months for him there.”

Tierney now has the prospect of facing one of the tournament favourites after Arsenal booked their place to face PSG in the last four.

Should the Premier League club negotiate that fixture, Tierney then has the chance to return to Celtic Park as a potential Champions League winner.

Rodgers says Celtic can ‘achieve a lot more’ when Tierney returns from Arsenal

There is no doubt that when Tierney does come back to Parkhead that Celtic are getting a top-quality defender.

And that has led Rodgers to get excited at how the current Arsenal defender can help kick Celtic on to the next level.

Rodgers continued, “I know what we are getting with Kieran, the player we are getting back because when you work in the Premier League, every single week for you it’s like a big European game in the main.

“It’s so challenging, so testing and he’s had a number of years of that. But we’re getting him back at a brilliant age and hopefully he can help this squad achieve a lot more.”

Tierney is due to return to Celtic this summer amid rumours that Greg Taylor could sing a new Celtic contract.

If Taylor does agree to extend his stay, the left flank of Celtic’s defence and attack will look formidable with Tierney, Taylor, Jota and Maeda all available Rodgers’ opponents will have plenty to worry about not just domestically, but also on the continent.