The 6 names that question the concept of Celtic having sufficient strength to cope with Champions League – Hugh Keevins

Gustaf Lagerbielke coming on to the park at Old Trafford in the closing stages of the game to help FC Twente nail down a draw against Manchester United in the Europa League

Who would have thought it? No-one who had ever watched the Swedish defender play in a Celtic jersey, that’s for sure. Brendan Rodgers said two weeks ago he felt he was the “most ready” he had ever been as Celtic’s manager for the Champions League.

By that time he had approved Lagerbielke’s loan move to the Netherlands and spent six million pounds on acquiring American centre-back Auston Trusty from Sheffield United during the last days of the transfer window. Brendan now needs supportive evidence he let the right player go out the door, and that his replacement in the squad can cope with the psychological demands Lagerbielke handled against Erik Ten Hag’s side on Wednesday night.

And the need to know takes on more crucial importance if Cameron Carter Vickers, an absentee against St Johnstone, fails to make the game against last season’s losing Champions League finalists in Germany. I would go so far as to say the loss of Carter Vickers is pivotal where the outcome of the match is concerned, because Trusty has never known an examination of his capabilities at this exalted level.

Ever since this season’s Champions League draw was made, I have thought four home wins for Celtic was a possibility. Likewise the chance of four defeats on the road. If that did happen then qualification for the next phase of the competition would be, analytics being all the rage at the minute, a data based certainty.

But, at the same time, it wouldn’t be easy on the eye, or sit comfortably on the mind, if hidings were administered on a regular basis in the away matches.

Start