Brendan Rodgers: Celtic can really compete in Champions League

Brendan Rodgers feels Celtic have discovered they can compete in the Champions League as he savoured his best night in the competition with the Hoops.

Celtic came from behind to beat RB Leipzig 3-1 thanks to the outstanding Nicolas Kuhn's double and a well-deserved goal from Reo Hatate.

The Scottish champions have now bounced back from their 7-1 thrashing against Borussia Dortmund by holding Atalanta in Italy and sweeping to victory against a side sitting second in the Bundesliga.

Rodgers said: "It gives a real nice confidence for the team. I think we’ve discovered in the last two games that we can be really competitive.

"If you’d said after the Dortmund game that we would have got four points from Atalanta and Red Bull Leipzig, probably not too many people would have said we would have done that.

"But I think we’ve discovered that we can play at the level. So it’s a great next step.

"To have seven points after four games, especially with the level of performance that we’ve played, gives us great encouragement.

"It means in the next four games we can have a real confidence to go and make the play-off stage, but it’s still such a long way to go."

Rodgers agreed it was his best night with Celtic in Europe, pointing out that Leipzig have only conceded five goals in nine Bundesliga matches.

"In terms of the level of opponent, I would say that actually it wasn’t just the result, but the performance," he said. "We played the game with a great charisma and confidence and showed the courage in our pressing.

"We’ve had some really good results but that definitely would be the best one."

Celtic have now played their three hardest games in the league phase on paper and sit above the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, AC Milan and Paris St