‘Absolutely fantastic’: Brendan Rodgers praises ‘superb’ Celtic players after reaching Champions League knockout stage

Brendan Rodgers said his players had shown how much they’ve developed at the elite level as Celtic booked a place in the Champions League knockout phase.

A 1-0 win over Young Boys at Celtic Park means the team are sure of a place in the play-off round at worst, with a top eight finish and direct entry to the last 16 still possible if the team can defeat Aston Villa in their final league phase game.

Celtic’s seven matches in the competition so far have brought 12 points, with three clean sheets in seven games and a run of five unbeaten matches. The only defeat was the 7-1 thrashing at Borussia Dortmun on matchday two.

Rodgers believes the achievement of ensuring progress with a game to spare shows how his side have learned and delivered improved performances.

“There’s been so many critics of Celtic at this level,” he said. “There’s no doubt it is a challenge. But the players have stepped up. They’ve been absolutely superb over the course of these seven games. The setback that we had in Dortmund, we learned from.

“It’s a privilege to manage Celtic at this level. But I wanted to be a Celtic manager at this level and be competitive. And I think we’ve been that.”

The manager praised the support for sticking with the side through a bewildering match that saw Celtic have three goals disallowed in the first half, then have a penalty saved, before a late own goal sealed victory. And he believes everyone can see how the club has progressed after having struggled in elite competition over recent years.

“It’s a little bit of history created,” he said. “We haven’t been in the knockout stages for a long time. For the supporters, it’s an amazing night. And obviously for the club, it’s really good.

“If we look at progress, we’ve won three games, we’ve drawn three games, we’ve lost one. And over the course of the Champions League, it’s really good consistency.

“I think we’ve seen where they’ve come from from last season. I thought we played well but didn’t quite get the points.

“To now come in this season and have 12 points at this stage is absolutely fantastic from where the club has been over a number of years at this level. I think that’s clear to see.”