Celtic achieve amazing first in their entire history with Champions League win

Celtic have won their first Champions League opening match in club history after easing to a 5-1 victory over Slovan Bratislava.

The Hoops were a class above their Slovakian opponents at Celtic Park on Wednesday night to go second in the revamped European Cup league standings.

Brendan Rodgers‘ men went into the break 1-0 up courtesy of Liam Scales’ 17th minute strike, before turning up the heat in the second half.

Kyogo Furuhashi and Arne Engels made it 3-0 before the hour mark, with former Tottenham defender Kevin Wimmer then pulling a goal back for the visitors.

But Celtic weren’t to succumb to a dramatic comeback, with forwards Daizen Maeda and Adam Idah wrapping up the win.

And with music royalty in Rod Stewart in attendance, it turned out to be a dream evening for the Scottish giants.

Incredibly, their victory was the first time in their history that they have won their opening Champions League game on what was their 13th attempt.

Prior to their win over Bratislava, they had lost ten of their opening fixtures, while drawing on two occasions.

And in another astonishing statistic, they hadn’t scored in their first Champions League match since the 2006/07 campaign.

That came against Manchester United, where they lost 3-2 at Old Trafford 18 years ago.

It’s been a brilliant start to the season for the Glaswegian outfit, who are top of the Scottish Premiership with five wins from as many games.

But they know they will have their work cut out for them next when they face Borussia Dortmund away on October 1.

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Speaking after the 5-1 victory, Celtic skipper Callum McGregor praised his teammates following a dazzling display.

He told TNT Sports: “Everyone had great fun.

“We started the game well, got our goal and both teams were feeling each other out.

“We felt we’d done well at half-time but thought we had levels to go. Our start to the second half was outstanding.

“This is the next level for the group in terms of growth and development. We always felt like it was important to start well.

“Bratislava are a good team, but the supporters came here full of belief. We had to deliver and we did.”

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