Brendan Rodgers confident Celtic can take next step in the Champions League

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers is convinced they can get to the next stage in the Champions League after pushing Bayern Munich all the way.

The Scottish champions reached the knockout phase of the tournament for the first time in 12 years after losing just twice in eight games in the league format and were seconds away from extra-time in the Allianz Arena.

Given Celtic went into the play-off having failed to replace Kyogo Furuhashi before the transfer deadline, there is clear scope to strengthen in the summer, assuming they hold on to other top players.

“There are financial levels that we can never get to,” Rodgers said. “I think that’s clear. People talk about going to the next level. But that’s always going to be a challenge for a club like ourselves or clubs without the finances of the really elite clubs.

“But we can certainly get to the next stage. And the next stage being what we’ve shown this season with the level of game that we can play and the confidence that you gain, because that’s the big thing at this level, having the confidence to go to the Allianz Arena and play that way. So that will give the players a huge lift of confidence.

“And there’s no reason then why, if you can qualify out of these group stages and perform like we did, then there’s no reason why you can’t then move on to a last 16 or a quarter-final.”

European progress was Rodgers’ stated ambition when he returned to Celtic in the summer of 2023.

“Without being arrogant, I always feel I can do that,” he said. “I think I’ve done that in my career, I’ve won big games.

“When I was here the first time, the reality is maybe our squad wasn’t built for that. Domestically we were very good and it was a challenge then for us going into European football.

“You’ll always have critics, there’ll be something else. You do something else and someone will say something else. That’s the way life is and the way the game is. For me, I’m not really too bothered about what people think or would say.

“My focus is very clear on helping this club progress at that level and have credibility in Europe. That’s what I wanted to achieve and I think we’ve done that this season. Now we’ve got to hopefully sustain that over the coming seasons.”

While the Celtic players will have gained confidence from their performance in Germany, Rodgers has had to make sure they recover from the crushing blow of conceding four minutes into stoppage time.

There is no room for self-pity with a trip to Easter Road to come on Saturday against a Hibernian side who have not lost in 12 games.

“I said to the players after the game you can hold your head up so proud because of the level of the opponent,” Rodgers said.

“What you look for in this game is respect and you’ll come off the pitch and those guys will respect you for what you did over the couple of games. These are guys who will be challenging for maybe the Champions League itself.

“So the disappointment was there naturally because of the nature of how the game ended. But I said to the players, for us to be sat here, feeling like this, it really shows how far you’ve come.

“I looked in their eyes after the Dortmund game (a 7-1 defeat in October) and that was a real tough one. So it just showed you the mentality and the resilience and the grit that this team have. They overcame that, recovered from the setback and then pushed on.

“We went back to the hotel, we had a beer and then got back to training the next day.

“They very rarely get the chance to do that. Don’t worry, it wasn’t a typical Scottish night out! It was a nice relaxed beer and a wine and then we trained the next day, stayed overnight, getting ready for Hibs.

“It’s very important that you can just reflect a little bit and relax and think about the moments within the game and the performance, but very quickly you have to move on.

“We’ve got a few months to go, so let’s finish off on what can be an absolutely brilliant campaign for us.”