Q: I know the support will look to the Champions League, but this competition can still give this club some really great moments. You go back to Seville with Celtic. It’s still a competition that can create great moments for a football club, isn’t it?
Brendan Rodgers: “Yes. We have to forget about the Champions League. That’s gone. We can’t look back. I’m very much looking forward to the future and how we can improve on and off the pitch. But on the pitch, like you say, that created some incredible memories for people in 2003, and that came off the back of a disappointment in not qualifying. So yes, it’s going to be a great tournament, great games. I’m really looking forward to the coaching challenge within that. Seeing the guys operate at this level, and they know that we can have a really good possibility this season to do really well.
Head coach Brendan Rodgers of Celtic and Benjamin Nygren of Celtic Celtic Training Session and press conference, PK, Pressekonferenz UEFA Europa League, Football, Rajko Mitic Stadium, Belgrade, Serbia – 23 Sep 2025Belgrade Rajko Mitic Stadium Serbia Photo Nikola Krstic/Shutterstock
Q: You talked about the Bayern Munich game and this summer about progress. That’s what you want. That’s what everyone at the club ideally wants. Now that you are in Europe and you’re talking about ideally going deep into the competition, do you feel that the club can make progress from last season in this competition by going really deep into it? That would be some form of progress.
Brendan Rodgers: “Yes. To be honest, I haven’t really looked so far ahead. I just know that we’re in a competition that I want us to do very well in. I’m not going to forecast anything about how far or how deep we can go. You’ve got to earn that right. You’ve got to win the games. You’ve got to win points. That’s what we need to do starting tomorrow night.”
Q: How good is it to be playing at a stadium like this? You’ve got some historic clubs in here who are just like Celtic. How much are you looking forward to this atmosphere tomorrow night?
Brendan Rodgers: “Yes, very much so. I saw the England game here a few weeks back. It’s a good atmosphere in the stadium. It’s my first time in Serbia, so I’m really honoured to be here. The club has an amazing history and the opportunity to play here at this stadium. We’re really looking forward to it.”
Q: In previous years, there’s been a lot of talk about Celtic being away in Europe and struggling. Do you feel that last season’s performances and results, I think in Atalanta and Zagreb and that sort of thing, do you think those helped you in terms of this year? What have you learned from that?
Brendan Rodgers: “I think there was a big learning last year. In the first year when I came back, we had some good performances in the competition that we were in. It built confidence, even though we’d lost a few games. Last year, we showed that we could learn. We showed that you don’t have to press every single ball that’s there. You’ve got to take your moments to press, to blow up the game, and then you can still play your football.
“There’s no bigger example of that than the Allianz Arena. So, to be able to do that there, play to that level against such opposition, and the performance that we had in Atalanta, like you say, in Zagreb last year, Celtic got away getting a point in the Champions League, and it was really a disappointment. So, that really showed how much we’ve progressed. But I feel that that gives us confidence to know that you can go away in Europe, get results and put in good performances, and then know that you’re home for the support, and everything can give you a great chance to progress.
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