Brendan Rodgers lives by Celtic motto as he looks to debunk a myth over long balls in Champions League

Brendan Rodgers might still bear the bruises from his first cracks at the Champions League with Celtic.

Shipping seven goals to Barcelona at the Nou Camp in 2016. Conceding five at home to PSG then losing seven in Paris a year later. For any manager, those beatings are sore. But for one of Europe’s top coaches, results like that can be painfully hard to accept.

And when Rodgers pondered a Parkhead return this summer, flashbacks of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe might have put him off. But not so. What’s the Hoops gaffer’s motto? “You win and you learn. You never lose.” That mantra will be put to the test on Tuesday night when Celtic kick off their Group E campaign against Feyenoord in Rotterdam. Are his players ready for Europe’s best competition? That’s debatable – and we’ll know a lot more come Wednesday morning. But Rodgers certainly is. After an against-the-odds Old Firm victory over Rangers before the break, the manager has a bit of his swagger back.

And going into the Champions League this time around, he’s quietly confident. Not that they can go toe-to-toe in a basketball-style game against the likes of Feyenoord, Atletico Madrid and Lazio in their section.

But they can compete. With the experience he’s picked up in the years since those Barca and PSG hammerings – as well as his tactical nous – Rodgers feels Celtic can at least make a tangible impression.

He said: “When you lose any game it’s difficult. And when you lose heavily, it’s never nice. You know the players have given their all – but have faced world-class talent. With Barcelona, 4-0 was par for what they were doing to most teams in La Liga that season. Better teams than us.

“It was four going into the last 10 minutes then they scored three more