Brendan Rodgers has revisited Celtic's infamous Champions League "eye opener" in Gibraltar, insisting it served as an early marker that fans wouldn't accept any drop in standards.
The Premiership champions were beaten by part-time Lincoln Red Imps in a second round qualifying first leg in Rodgers ' first competitive match in charge. And although his side bounced back to win the second leg comfortably before eventually going all the way to the group stage, the initial result laid bare the perils of the early qualifying ties.
Ange Postecoglou's Celtic face no such danger this season as Scotland's improved UEFA coefficient catapulted them directly into the 2022/23 group stage after winning last season's league title. And the now Leicester City manager reckons that swerving the qualifying hurdles is a "great" boost for Postecoglou and his players. Rodgers told Kammy and Ben’s Proper Football Podcast : “I remember playing in Gibraltar; we had a really good pre-season. And this is the tough thing, it’s great for Ange now because they’ve got no qualifiers and go straight into the group stage.
