Callum McGregor declares Celtic Champions League blank slate as he reveals touching 4am family moment from debut

Callum McGregor has declared the newly revamped Champions League as a blank slate as Celtic look to make an instant impact.

Brendan Rodgers and his troops take to the biggest stage in club football on Wednesday night as they welcome Slovan Bratislava to Glasgow's east end in their league phase opener. The atmosphere on big European nights is lauded by professionals past and present including some of the biggest names to have played the game and the Hoops supporters will be looking to bring that noise and passion off the park once again to inspire those on it to the perfect start at Europe's top table.

The shake-up of the premier competition will see a 36 team single league with Celtic playing eight games in total. A top eight finish will book a direct spot in the last 16 but finishing anywhere between 9 and 24 will book a two-legged play-off knockout round tie and the chance to join the eight leading sides. The Scottish Premiership champions face Bratislava, RB Leipzig, Club Brugge and Young Boys at home while they face trips to Aston Villa, Borussia Dortmund, Atalanta and Dinamo Zagreb on the road.

Speaking to UEFA TV about the new look format, McGregor said: "It's fresh, it's new and everybody will be playing in it for the first time. Obviously I think your seeding then helps as well. Coming from pot 3 you are then playing against teams of a rough kind of marker of where you think you should be at. We've got a home game to start the competition. It all points to a sort of positive beginning of the campaign. On the night we have to do a lot right to make sure we maximise that."

Ten years ago, McGregor took to the pitch for his first team debut against KR Reykjavík in a Champions League qualifier and the rest is