Superb Celtic smash Chelsea as red-hot Rodgers brutally exposes fatal flaw in bungling Blues - 5 talking points

Never mind the Fighting Irish. This was the Sizzling Celts as they battered Chelsea 4-1, writes Michael Gannon in America.

It was 90 degrees at Notre Dame’s incredible gridiron cathedral and the Hoops were on fire. Brendan Rodgers’s men smashed a strong Chelsea side for four in front of thrilled US fans in Indiana to send confidence soaring ahead of the new season. In-demand Matt O’Riley was superb again with a cool opener before setting up Kyogo for the second in a brilliant first half display.

And then Luis Palma inspired a late blitz to make it three and then set up Mikey Johnston for an incredible fourth to sign off the morale-boosting US tour in some style. The wins – and performances – against Man City and now Chelsea has got confidence soaring going into the new season. O’Riley ran the show – while keeper Kasper Schmeichel was superb at the other end with a string of big saves.

But it was the all-round display in front of thousands of US fans that has Celtic confidence soaring ahead of the big kick-off next week. Rodgers will ramp up the chase for new recruits but the squad is already slick enough for Scotland. The only concern is whether they can keep hold of O’Riley with more bids than Homes Under the Hammer coming in from the likes of Atalanta and Southampton. On this form, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see more big guns join the scrap, with Liverpool also watching closely.

Celts can only hope to hang on – and they also need to keep fingers crossed the knock that forced Daizen Maeda off at Notre Dame is not serious, and likewise the injury that forced in-form Nicolas Kuhn out of the Chelsea clash. The Hoops had a stormer against Man City – but this was a stiffer test against a slightly more senior Blues outfit.