The China Mail - Rodgers backs Celtic to be 'really competitive' in Champions League

Celtic were the first British club to win what was then the European Cup back in 1967, defeating Inter Milan 2-1 in the final in Portugal.

But their recent European campaigns have been far removed from those heady days of the 'Lisbon Lions'.

Rodgers, now in his second spell as Celtic manager, has presided over just two wins in 18 Champions League group games in charge -- against Belgian club Anderlecht and Dutch side Feyenoord.

Nevertheless, the 51-year-old will lead Celtic into their Champions League opener at home to Slovan Bratislava on Wednesday buoyed by the Scottish title-holders having started the domestic league campaign with five wins from five matches, 14 goals scored and none conceded.

"There's absolutely no doubt, this feels like the most ready I've been as a Celtic manager coming into a Champions League campaign," Rodgers said Tuesday.

The former Liverpool boss added: "It's a real challenging level and for teams like ourselves we have to be at our absolute maximum to benefit, especially with how the game has developed in the financial side.

"But what I always believe in here as a club is that if we can get our squad to a really competitive level, what we can do here at home can make it a really special place to be and still we can be really competitive at this level.

"There have been a lot of occasions where, and no fault of the players, because the players in all my times here gave me absolutely everything, but we just weren't at that level. That's the reality of it.

"But I look at us now as a club, progressing, looking forward, you see the club has supported us fantastic in the summer (with Belgium midfielder Arne Engels arriving for a reported club record fee)".

Celtic have long been the dominant force in Scottish football, but Rodgers insisted: "We don't want just the benchmark to be domestic. We want to improve and do well in Europe.

"It's an amazing level to be involved in. I love the challenge, I relish the challenge. The players love playing in it. That's why you work all year, to win your league, to win your title, to get to nights like this which will be amazing for them."

K.Lam--ThChM