This proved a Celtic Park rarity. The Scottish champions were rampant against continental opposition, on an evening absorbing so many years of frustration for Celtic at elite level. New format, new Celtic, new danger.
The paucity of Slovan Bratislava will most likely be borne out by subsequent Champions League outings but Brendan Rodgers and Celtic were fully entitled to relish what played out here after game upon game of European turmoil. Rodgers and his players will travel to Borussia Dortmund believing this environment need not be so chastising after all.
This quickly descended into a rout, Celtic’s pace of play paralysing Slovan. In their 13th attempt, Celtic finally opened the Champions League proper with victory. In case anybody was in doubt, the star of their manager is on the rise again. A support that seemed unsure of him a year ago now lauds his every move.
“If the competition stops now we play Bayern Munich in the final,” said Rodgers with a smile, reflecting Celtic’s lofty position of second out of 36 teams. “It was a great night. The players were absolutely sensational. We could have had more than five.” This was no exaggeration.
The confidence exuded by Rodgers before this fixture owed everything to an imperious opening to the domestic season. Celtic, though, had been in this movie before; untouchable in Scotland while unable to keep pace with even mediocre teams in Europe.
A key theme of this, a second Rodgers tenure in Glasgow has been re-establishing Celtic as a credible European force. Their opposition here always looked favourable, which has not always been the case over the past decade. Celtic were the heavy favourites to open the Champions League with a win. How they were to meet that challenge.
Their supporters have clearly bought into the Rodgers vision. The crackling atmosphere here was one of expectation rather than hope. As Daizen Maeda blasted wildly over the Slovan bar inside four minutes, Celtic knew they had capacity to breach the visiting defence. Maeda soon planted a free header straight into the hands of Dominik Takac. The Slovakians fired back, David Strelec watching his shot deflected over when the forward really should have squared to the marauding Vladimir Weiss.
Celtic have invested relatively strongly to aid their Champions League dream. It felt poetic, then, that a 2021 purchase from Shamrock Rovers broke the deadlock. There was assistance from a blue chip buy – the delivery of Arne Engels, Celtic’s £11m record signing, was sublime – but Liam Scales still displayed tenacity and perfect timing to meet the cross. Scales’s ferocious header flew in via Takac’s shoulder. The goalkeeper soon had to move smartly to deny Kyogo Furuhashi at close range.
Slovan were not without a counterattacking threat. Weiss, a former Rangers player, allowed the Celtic defence to recover after Cameron Carter-Vickers had miscued a header. Furuhashi was equally wasteful in the 34th minute, snatching at a shot that should have tested Takac.
The interval improved Celtic’s potency. Nicolas Kühn looked in danger of running down a blind alley before deceiving the Slovan defence with a sharp, low cross from the right that found Furuhashi lurking at the back post. The Japanese forward could not miss, bundling the ball into the visiting net with his thigh.
A moment of rashness triggered a Celtic third. Danylo Ihnatenko challenged Alistair Johnston inside the penalty area when there was no need whatsoever to do so. Engels stroked home the resultant spot-kick.
Slovan tempered the mood if only slightly and as it was to transpire, briefly. Celtic should have cleared rather than offer Kevin Wimmer a chance to shoot. Shoot he did; wonderfully with the outside of his boot from an angle to leave Kasper Schmeichel stranded. The Danish goalkeeper rightly berated his defenders for their slackness.
Maeda was to settle any nerves. Furuhashi passed to Reo Hatate, who flicked through for his rampaging teammate. Maeda’s composure allowed him to finish low beyond the exposed Takac. It was now a question of how many Celtic wanted to score.
Two substitutes combined for the fifth. James Forrest fed Adam Idah, who found himself clean through and made no mistake. There ended not quite the perfect night for Celtic; but not far off it. Onwards to Dortmund, with spring in step.
