Celtic stormed to a dominant 5-1 victory in the Champions League last night, thumping Slovan Bratislava in a historic win at Parkhead.
Liam Scales, Kyogo Furuhashi, Arne Engels, Daizen Maeda, and Adam Idah all scored in the memorable triumph.
The victory not only ended the Bhoys’ long wait for a matchday one Champions League win but also helped them massively in the goal difference department.
Indeed, Celtic currently sit second in the league phase table with a plus-four goal difference.
As we approach the latter stages of the league phase, the number of goals the Scottish Premiership champions score and concede could prove crucial as they aim to reach the last-16 play-off stage.
This is something captain Callum McGregor spoke about after last night’s match.
“We spoke about this before the game, actually, that goal difference is going to be really important,” he told CeltsAreHere.com.
“There will be a lot of teams sitting on similar points and it’ll be the goals scored and goals against that will potentially keep you in or knock you out.
“We have to keep an eye on that as well. We feel when we’re up in the game we have to maximise that because you never know when the next opportunity like that is.”
After their thumping win against Bratislava, Celtic now face back-to-back trips to Borussia Dortmund and Atalanta.
Playing last season’s Champions League finalists and Europa League winners in subsequent matchdays will be hugely difficult, but it shows how crucial securing three points was last night.
The Bhoys were intense throughout, and the crowd were up for it, too.
Celtic Park hasn’t been the fortress it used to be in Europe over the past few years, but last night, Bratislava stood no chance as Brendan Rodgers’ men secured a vital victory.
