Celtic’s story in the Champions League over the last decade has been all too familiar. The storied old fortress of Glasgow has receded into the distance, replaced by tales of defensive woes and a string of painful defeats.

Rodgers’ role has also come under criticism – despite continued dominance in the domestic league – as the Northern Irishman was only able to achieve two wins in the 18 Champions League games he previously played as Celtic coach.

Here they had a huge opportunity to win their opening match at the 13th attempt, against a less strong Slovakian team who were competing at this level for the first time.

Rodgers himself said he had never felt so good after a strong summer stay and start to the domestic season before a European campaign.

So there was pressure to prove themselves and they did so with an outstanding performance that was too much for the Slovak champions.

Record transfer Engels had a major influence on Celtic’s determined and quick passes and caused problems for the visitors every time they lost the ball.

Engels, Kyogo and Maeda could all have scored hat-tricks, such was Celtic’s dominance as they repeatedly played the ball cleanly through the midfield and around the flanks of the porous Bratislava defence.

With upcoming away games against Borussia Dortmund and Atalanta as well as a home game against RB Leipzig, the tests will only get tougher from now on.

However, this performance here has reignited the European fire at Celtic Park and gives the team a good chance of reaching the play-off round in this revised format, where a place in the top 24 keeps the season going.