Brendan Rodgers praises Celtic’s hunger after dominant Champions League display

What a blast from Celtic as the team made their Champions League debut in 2024/25. Playing at home in the iconic Paradise, Brendan Rodgers' men blew away Slovan Bratislava with an eventual crushing 5-1 result, boosting morale and therefore strengthening the belief of the squad to go all the way. On the pitch, there was much more than anyone could have wished for: Liam Scales, Kyogo, Arne Engels, Daizen Maeda, and Adam Idah lit the atmosphere.

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But beyond that lopsided scoreline was what stood out most: the team's attitude. Rodgers highlighted the second-half display as spectacular, praising the intensity and the hunger in the players' desire to win the game. And that they did, recording one of the biggest wins by the team in the Champions League group stage.

The power of the collective

One of the salient features of Celtic's victory was collective strength. Rodgers made it a point to highlight that it wasn't only the starting players who shone. Even the substitutes played a significant role in controlling the game. "Everyone contributed to a great performance," the coach said.

Something necessary in such topmost-level competitions as the Champions League is present. It's not individual talents but cohesion, an ability to work together, and to adjust strategy during the game that win matches.

A slow, but promising first half

Though the score in the end was impressive, Celtic were cautious in the first half. Rodgers later admitted that his team were "out of sync" during the opening 45 minutes, particularly with positioning and ball movement. Even at that, they still opened the scoring courtesy of Liam Scales' header off a corner. It was a slender lead at halftime to show that Celtic were ready to grow into the game.

Rodgers reinforced his satisfaction with what he witnessed in that second half thus: "The intensity, hunger, and desire from the team were incredible." And that literally translated onto the pitch. Early in the second half, Kyogo doubled the lead, and from then on, Celtic dominated. Arne Engels easily dispatched a penalty, while Daizen Maeda and Adam Idah gave their team an exalted finish with two exquisite goals.

Stats reflect the dominance

With the match stats, nobody was able to raise doubts on the dominance of Celtic anymore. Rodgers pointed out that Celtic had about 60% possession-a remarkable figure as far as such a competition as the Champions League is concerned. This team wasn't just efficient in finishing, it knew how to control the game itself in order to limit the chances created by Slovan Bratislava and dictate the tempo.

Another important factor has been the hard work of players in defense, as Rodgers pointed out: "You have to respect that, even when dominating, you still have to work, adjust, slide and be brave. And that's what the players did magnificently," the coach said.

Consistency challenge

Perhaps the biggest challenge that most teams who want to have a strong Champions League campaign face is consistency. Rodgers seems to know that quite well, and he admitted how good it was for the team to go on a positive streak: "We won our last Champions League game here, and now we've won our first one of this season, so that's back-to-back victories, which is good."

Yet, he was not short of saying that the confidence has to be built "step by step," bringing into light that every game brings a different kind of challenge. Rodgers' mentality is attached to keeping his team's feet on the ground, even after such an emphatic result. This is very important, as the Champions League is long and unpredictable, and in a competition like this, the euphoria of one big win may change into frustration if the focus is lost.