Scintillating Celtic put on a five-star Champions League masterclass as they overpowered newcomers Slovan Bratislava to win their opening game in the competition for the time time at the 13th attempt.
Brendan Rodgers’ side ran out rampant 5-1 winners on a rare night when the Scottish champions began the match as favourites against the lowest-ranked team in Europe’s premier competition.
This was a truly invigorating performance full of energy, poise and panache and marked the ideal start for the Hoops as they kicked off the new-look format in style. Not only did they managed to score FIVE goals for the first time ever in a Champions League game, Rodgers set his team up perfectly.
They looked far hungrier than the Slovakian champions, who had reached this stage after coming through four qualifying rounds, where they disposed of Struga (North Macedonia), Celje (Slovenia), Apoel Nicosia (Cyprus) and FC Midtjylland (Denmark).
It didn’t take long for Celtic to open the scoring when centre-back Liam Scales rose highest in a crowded penalty area to glance home Arne Engels’ corner on 17 minutes and a flurry of other opportunities followed. However, the hosts were unable to add to the scoreline before the interval.
The second half began just as the first had with Celtic firmly on the front foot and Kyogo Furuhashi doubled their lead two minutes after the restart. Terrific work from Nicolas Kuhn saw the German winger skip past two opponents before hitting the by-line and squaring the ball to the Japanese frontman to tap home from point-blank range.
That goal seemed to banish any lingering nerves among the vocal Celtic support and further chances came their way with Engels coolly slotting home a third goal from the penalty spot after Alistair Johnston was clipped on the heel by Danylo Ihnatenko after getting to the ball first.
Kevin Wimmer’s outstanding finish with the outside of his boot handed Bratislava a consolation on the hour mark, but Celtic were still hungry for more goals and Reo Hatate teed up Daizen Maeda to re-establish a three-goal cushion ten minutes later. And substitute Adam Idah timed his run to perfect to latch onto fellow sub James Forrest’ defence-splitting pass to ice the cake four minutes from time.
Here’s how we rated the Celtic players on a fabulous night at Parkhead.
13. Anthony Ralston (SUB) - 3/10
Came on for Johnston as part of a late triple change. Hardly tested. | SNS Group
14. Adam Idah (SUB) - 5/10
Introduced for Kyogo for the final 15 mins. Terrific run and finish after latching onto fellow sub Forrest's through ball. His first goal since last season's Scottish Cup final. | SNS Group
15. Paulo Bernardo (SUB) - 4/10
Brought on for Hatate with 13 mins remaining. Tidy enough in possession. | Getty Images
16. Auston Trusty (SUB) - N/A
Making his long-awaited debut as a late replacement for Carter-Vickers. | SNS Group