BRENDAN RODGERS has saluted “sensational” Celtic as they scorched to a historic Champions League win.
And he insisted there’s MORE to come from his Euro heroes.
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Liam Scales set Celts on the way to a first-ever group phase opening night victory with a 5-1 rout of Slovan Bratislava.
Kyogo Furuhashi, Ange Engels, Daizen Maeda and sub Adam Idah also netted to secure a biggest-ever win at this stage.
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And boss Rodgers couldn’t disguise his delight as his side made an instant impact on the new-look competition.
He said: “The competition stops now, we play Bayern Munich in the final!
“But no, it was a great night for everyone, the players were absolutely sensational in the game.
“I thought that you just sensed it before kick-off, the feeling in the crowd, I’m so proud of the team.
“Our intensity with and without the ball was so good, it was a great night and I’m so happy.
“It was an absolutely outstanding performance and result, we were strong in the first half but in the second half – wow.
“The greed of the players, the hunger, the pressing and the mentality of the team made me so proud, and the quality of the goals was sensational.
“I told them we don’t have to do anything special – just be us.
“It’s good that the goal contribution is shared through the team because we don’t want to put the burden on any one player.
“There is a mentality where guys are very clear in what they have to do.
“They are such a selfless group, they set each other up and the guys delivered it so well, I think it shows the growth.
“It’s never an easy game at this level, you’ve even seen them [Slovan Bratislava] in periods of the game with highly technical players, some players with big experience that have played in top teams, but we coped really well with that.
“Of course, you want to improve and I think there’s still a lot of improvement to come within the team.
“The players are coming in, looking to settle at the club, looking to adapt to how we play.
“People will think, ‘well, why have some of the new boys not played as much?’, but this is a different intensity.
“I think it’s just developing the mentality, the Celtic supporters come to see an attacking brand of football, an aggressive game and they’re seeing that, they’re seeing a team that’s given absolutely everything.”
Stopper Scales was named man of the match for his towering display, with Rodgers thrilled with his display.
He added: “Liam gets a fantastic goal and was really strong.
“He played very, very well, I’m really pleased for him because he’s been a really consistent performer for us since he’s got on the team.”
Stunned Slovan Bratislava boss Vladimir Weiss groaned: “We lost 5-1 and I can’t be satisfied with the result.
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“But I’m not disappointed with the performance, Celtic were very effective.
“We wanted to play football and I think we left a good impression, even though we lost.”
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