Brendan Rodgers has opened up on the early eye-opening experience he had as Celtic boss as he singled out one major advantage for Ange Postecoglou.
The former Hoops gaffer - now in charge at Leicester City - joined in the summer of 2016 with his first task a Champions League qualifying showdown with Lincoln Red Imps. It was a night to forget for the Scottish champions as they were shocked 1-0 in Gibraltar before overturning the tie at Parkhead in a 3-0 win.
Rodgers would go on to knock out Astana and Hapoel Be'er Sheeva in the next two rounds of qualifying to secure a spot in the group stages alongside Barcelona, Manchester City and Borussia Monchengladbach. This time around, Postecoglou and his troops have the luxury of a direct entry to Europe's premier tournament and no need to tackle any summer qualifiers. Former Liverpool boss Rodgers has opened up on that defeat in Gibraltar as he labelled it as 'part of the journey'.
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Speaking on the Kammy and Ben’s Proper Football Podcast, he said: “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.
“Back then, you got four qualifying rounds. So, you’re having to play eight games just to try and get to the Champions League.
“I had gone in that summer (2016), the guys were fantastic in pre-season, but even in that first game in Gibraltar, you could see the vulnerabilities of the team in Europe.
“So, we lost 1-0 out there. It was a game over two legs you were going to win because you went back (to Parkhead). But, it was an eye-opener at that point to lose that opening game against, with all due respect, guys who were part-time.
“And, it was a real eye-opener in terms of you could see the supporters weren’t happy even though they probably knew we would get through. But that was part of the journey.”
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