Celtic could end winless run this week which Liam Scales was in the dark about

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It’s that time of the season again when Celtic are set to compete against the cream of European football in the Champions League.

European football always brings an exciting edge to the season as it offers an escape and distraction from the domestic scene where Celtic get to put their wits against some of the best players on the continent.

Admittedly, Celtic’s record in the Champions League hasn’t been the best of late but with the squad that Brendan Rodgers has assembled and the current form of the team, the fans will be confident heading into the new league phase that their team can achieve something tangible.

And there is a record that Brendan Rodgers will want to vanquish when Slovan Bratislava visits Celtic Park on Wednesday and it is one that Hoops defender, Liam Scales, was unaware of.

Scales ‘excited’ to end Celtic Champions League record

Celtic could put to bed a winless home run where the club haven’t won an opening group stage game at Parkhead since 2001 if they beat Slovan Bratislava on Wednesday night.

The last time Celtic did that was against Porto in a 1-0 victory during the Martin O’Neill era and Scales admits that is a record he was unaware of.

Scales told the Daily Mail, “I didn’t know that but look, it’s a home game, this place will be rocking. The fans will be excited for it. We’re all excited for it and we’re really looking forward to it.

“It would be great to go and get a win and start the campaign that way.

“You hear that it’s a favourable draw and, on paper, it might look that way.

“But they’re all really good sides, playing at the top of their level. It is massively important to win those games at home.”

Scales: Beating Slovan Bratislava ‘massive’ for Celtic

Many fans believe that the way the draw has panned out for Celtic gives their team a great chance of progressing in the tournament and Scales reckons that a win over the Slovakians will give them a great chance of doing just that.

Scales continued, “I think we have a good chance. I think we’re in the right place now to go and do that because of how good we’ve been playing domestically.

“If we can bring that form and improve on it in Europe, we’ll have a chance. It would be a great way to start the campaign and put us on the front foot.

“You don’t know how many points will get you a play-off spot. So it could be massive for us later on in the year.”

The 8pm kick-off on Wednesday night will have a packed Celtic Park hoping that Rodgers can mastermind a crucial win in the tournament.

The Hoops boss wants to make Celtic competitive on the continent again and a win over the Slovakian champions would be a huge confidence booster for the team.

With the next two fixtures away to Borussia Dortmund and Atalanta, getting three early points on the board will give an extra incentive to try and grab a positive result in Germany and Italy to further enhance Celtic’s chances of making progress out of the league phase for the first time since 2013.