RODGERS FEARS UEFA JUDGEMENT

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BRENDAN RODGERS fears Celtic face the partial closure of a Parkhead stand following the field invasion of a fan who aimed a kick at Paris Saint-Germain’s Kylian Mbappe.

The Hoops could pay a heavy price following the incident during the 5-0 defeat against the French aces in the opening Champions League group encounter in Glasgow on Tuesday night.

Rodgers is worried UEFA could hit the club where it hurts ahead of the home clash against Bayern Munich on October 31.

He said: “It’s certainly not something that we would want. Our big advantage when we are a million miles away in terms of financial support is through the supporters.

“If we don’t have them then it could be difficult.”

Rodgers cited the example of the European bosses ordering the club to play a home Cup Winners’ Cup-tie against Atletico Madrid behind closed doors in 1985 following crowd trouble against Rapid Vienna.

Davie Hay’s team had drawn the first leg 1-1 in Spain, but went on to lose the return 2-1 inside an almost deserted Parkhead.

Rodgers said: “I read an interesting story with Peter Grant a while back talking about the game against Atletico Madrid and going away and getting a result and then having to play in an empty stadium – and actually they ended up losing the game.”

UEFA have opened their 12th disciplinary proceedings against the Scottish champions in six years, with the governing body poised to pass judgment on October 19.

John Hatton, from Belfast, admitted invading the pitch in the aftermath of PSG’ s third goal just before the interval.

Sentence was deferred at Glasgow Sheriff Court until October 11 and he was banned from entering any football ground in the UK until then.

Hatton, who was punched on the head by a fellow-supporter as he was led away by police on Tuesday night, had been booed by a large section of the Parkhead crowd.

Rodgers added: “The reaction in the ground at the time said it all. They would have felt that and any UEFA official would have heard it, too.

“It is something they (UEFA) might not look at – but there will be a question asked.

“But they know the goodwill around Celtic and Scottish football here and what has been achieved.

“The club are working very hard to ensure fan safety is in place and that Celtic Park is one of the great arenas for European football despite some of the things that happen.”

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