‘I AM VERY PROUD OF THE TEAM,’ RODGERS

Parkhead rocked on a memorable European evening under the floodlights in the east end of Glasgow as Callum McGregor volleyed in a spectacular winner in the 78th minute.

The Hoops will now be asked to defend their slender advantage in Russia on Thursday.

Rodgers said: “I thought it was a brilliant performance from start to finish and we limited them to very few opportunities.

“It was a very mature performance from us, tactically in the game we were excellent and we showed our personality and our development as a team to keep a clean sheet and play with that calmness.

“I’m very proud of the team, but we’re only halfway there.

“That level of opponent that we have come up against in the last couple of years tests you to the limit, but I think it’s important you defend well in any game.

“Whether it’s a Scottish Premiership game or a Europa League or Champions League game, but I thought defensively we were very strong.

“They were very clear in their role and how they worked it and we showed a great calmness with the ball. Everyone contributed.

“I said to the players yesterday that between 60 and 70 minutes we would need to change it because the shape we were playing was going to be taxing on some of the players.

“Charly Musonda is a dribbler, you can see with the goal he can stay on the ball and took us out of pressure.

“He was very good when he came on, but it was very much a team performance and a great result for us.

“It was going to be two difficult games, but we’ve given ourselves a wonderful opportunity.

“We defended very very well, we took our opportunity and it sets it up very well for next week.”