BRENDAN RODGERS will tonight lead his players into into his 57th European encounter during his two stints as Celtic boss.
Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich provide the opposition in the first leg of the Champions League play-off at Parkhead with the return game due at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday.
The Hoops gaffer negotiated his team’s path through the eight-match league stages to face the Germans.
Rodgers saw the Hoops gain 18 points in the new-look format with three wins, Slovan Bratislava (5-1), RB Leipzig (3-1), Young Boys (1-0), three draws, Atalanta (0-0), Club Brugge (1-1) and Dinamo Zagreb (0-0), while losing two, Borussia Dortmund (1-7) and Aston Villa (2-4).
JUST PARADISE…a beaming Brendan Rodgers acknowledges the fans after Celtic’s 3-1 win over RB Leipzig at Parkhead in in November.
Rodgers has guided the Hoops to 21 wins and 11 draws while losing 24 of his previous 56 outings in charge.
Remarkably, the 52-year-old Irishman 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.
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
Borussia Dortmund 7 CELTIC 1
Maeda
Atalanta 0 CELTIC 0
CELTIC 3 RB Leipzig 1
Kuhn 2, Hatate
CELTIC 1 Club Brugge 1
Maeda
Dinamo Zagreb 0 CELTIC 0
CELTIC 1 Young Boys 0
Benito (og)
Aston Villa 4 CELTIC 2
Idah 2
* DON’T miss the unbeatable match report from Celtic v Bayern Munich this evening – only in your champion CQN.
