HALF-CENTURY BHOY BRENDAN

BRENDAN RODGERS will complete his Celtic half-century of European competition against Borussia Dortmund at the Westfalenstadion this evening.

The Hoops boss kicked off the new-look Champions League with three points in the scintillating 5-1 triumph win over Slovan Bratislava last month with Liam Scales, Kyogo Furuhashi, Arne Engels (pen), Daizen Maeda and Adam Idah sharing the goals that flattened the Slovaks.

Following tonight’s meeting with the Bundesliga giants, they will face Atalanta (A), RB Leipzig (H), Club Brugge (H), Dinamo Zagreb (A) and Young Boys (H).

The final encounter is scheduled for January 29 next year when the Hoops travel to the Midlands to take on Aston Villa.

THE THINKER…Brendan Rodgers is pensive on the touchline.

Remarkably, Rodgers’ kicked off his career as Celtic manager with a 1-0 loss to Gibraltar minnows Lincoln Red Imps on July 12 2016. Only James Forrest remains at the club of the 14 players utilised that day.

Thankfully, a week later the Hoops rectified the situation with first-half strikes from Mikael Lustig, Leigh Griffiths and Patrick Roberts on their way to a 3-0 win.

Coincidentally, evergreen Forrest turned out in the 5-1 victory in the Champions League opener against Slovan Bratislava at Parkhead last month.

Rodgers has guided the Celtic to 18 wins and nine draws while losing 22 of his previous 49 outings in charge.

SEASON 2016/17

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Second qualifying round

Lincoln Red Imps 1 CELTIC 0

CELTIC 3 Lincoln Red Imps 0 (Agg: 3-1)

Lustig, Griffiths, Roberts

Third qualifying round

Astana 1 CELTIC 1

Griffiths

CELTIC 2 Astana 1 (Agg: 3-2)

Griffiths (pen), Dembele (pen)

Play-Off Round

CELTIC 5 Hapoel Be’er Sheva 2

Rogic, Griffiths (2), Dembele, Brown

Hapoel Be’er Sheva 2 CELTIC 0 (Agg: 5-4)

GROUP STAGES

Barcelona 7 CELTIC 0

CELTIC 0 Barcelona 2

CELTIC 3 Manchester City 3

Dembele (2), Sterling (og)

Manchester City 1 CELTIC 1

Roberts

CELTIC 0 Borussia Monchengladbach 2

Borussia Monchengladbach 1 CELTIC 1

Dembele (pen)

SEASON 2017/18

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Second qualifying round

Linfield 0 CELTIC 2

Haughney (og), Rogic

CELTIC 4 Linfield 0 (Agg: 6-0)

Sinclair (2), Rogic, Armstrong

Third qualifying round

CELTIC 0 Rosenborg 0

Rosenborg 0 CELTIC 1 (Agg: 1-0)

Forrest

Play-Off Round

CELTIC 5 Astana 0

Postnikov (og), Sinclair (2), Forrest, Shitov (og)

Astana 4 CELTIC 3 (Agg: 8-4)

Sinclair, Ntcham, Griffiths

GROUP STAGES

CELTIC 0 PSG 5

PSG 7 CELTIC 1

Dembele

Bayern Munich 3 CELTIC 0

CELTIC 1 Bayern Munich 2

McGregor

Anderlecht 0 CELTIC 3

Griffiths, Roberts, Sinclair

CELTIC 0 Anderlecht 1

EUROPA LEAGUE LAST 32

CELTIC 1 Zenit St Petersburg 0

McGregor

Zenit St Petersburg 3 CELTIC 0 (Agg: 1-3)

SEASON 2018/19

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

First qualifying round

Alashkert 0 CELTIC 3

Edouard, Forrest, McGregor

CELTIC 3 Alashkert 0 (Agg: 6-0)

Dembele 2 (1 pen), Forrest

Second qualifying round

CELTIC 3 Rosenborg 1

Edouard 2, Ntcham

Rosenborg 0 CELTIC 0 (Agg: 3-1)

Third qualifying round

CELTIC 1 AEK Athens 1

McGregor

AEK Athens 2 CELTIC 1 (Agg: 2-3)

Sinclair

EUROPA LEAGUE PLAY-OFF

FK Sudova 1 CELTIC 1

Ntcham

CELTIC 3 FK Sudova 0 (Agg: 4-1)

Griffiths, McGregor, Ajer

GROUP STAGES

CELTIC 1 Rosenborg 0

Griffiths

Rosenborg 0 CELTIC 1

Sinclair

RB Salzburg 2 CELTIC 0

CELTIC 1 RB Salzburg 2

Ntcham

RB Leipzig 2 CELTIC 0

CELTIC 2 RB Leipzig 1

Tierney, Edouard

ROUND OF 32

CELTIC 0 Valencia 2

Valencia 1 CELTIC 0 (Agg: 0-3)

SEASON 2023/24

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

GROUP STAGES

Feyenoord 2 CELTIC 0

CELTIC 1 Lazio 2

Kyogo

CELTIC 2 Atletico Madrid 2

Kyogo, Palma

Atletico Madrid 6 CELTIC 0

Lazio 2 CELTIC O

CELTIC 2 Feyenoord 1

Palma (pen), Lagerbielke

SEASON 2024/26

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

CELTIC 5 Slovan Bratislava 1

Scales, Kyogo, Engels (pen), Maeda, Idah

* DON’T miss the unbeatable match report from Borussia Dortmund v Celtic this evening – only in your champion CQN.

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