Brendan Rodgers calls on Celtic to 'gain highest respect' by qualifying for UEFA Champions League ahead of FC Kairat play-off
Published 20/08/2025 at 13:40 GMT+1
Brendan Rodgers called on Celtic to sustain the success they enjoyed in last season's UEFA Champions League for their play-off tie against FC Kairat. The Scottish outfit need to beat the team from Almaty over two legs to secure their spot in Europe's elite competition this season. Meanwhile, ahead of the tie, summer signing Benjamin Nygren said playing in the Champions League was a "dream".
'We would love to be there' - Rodgers on Celtic's Champions League ambitions
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Brendan Rodgers insisted that Celtic can "sustain" and build on last season’s UEFA Champions League success.
Celtic kick off their Champions League campaign on Wednesday when they take on Kazakh champions FC Kairat in the first leg of their play-off tie, with the game live on TNT Sports and discovery+. Indeed, victory over two legs will secure their spot in the main draw for Europe's elite competition this season.
And the Scottish champions enter the tie buoyed by last year’s performance in the Champions League, where they finished 21st in the league phase, before narrowly losing 3-2 on aggregate to German giants Bayern Munich in a play-off to qualify for the last 16.
"We would love to be there," Rodgers exclusively told TNT Sports. "That’s my whole thought about being back here at Celtic.
"We showed a hint of what we could do last season in the Champions League and now we want to be able to sustain that.
"My whole feeling for Celtic is to gain the highest respect we possibly can at the elite level and for that you have to perform and want to perform.
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"We got a sample of that last year, the feeling and the progress we made, and now we want to sustain that and want to keep that going."
Last term, Celtic recovered from a 7-1 Champions League mauling at the hands of Borussia Dortmund to get through the league phase and qualify for a play-off spot, courtesy of wins over Slovan Bratislava, Young Boys and RB Leipzig.
They finished level on points with Juventus and ahead of the likes of Manchester City, Sporting CP and Club Brugge.
Rodgers continued: "I had real pride in the team last year. We showed we can be really competitive at the very highest level of the game.
"I was really proud of the team last season, in how we played, how we performed, the mentality we showed on the back end of Dortmund, going to Atalanta who were scoring goals for fun. To have the resilience - but some of the football that we played.
"The Leipzig game was my favourite game of the season because of how we performed at that level.
"We finished off just short but feeling proud that we’d made steps. And now we want to continue making them."
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Nygren: ‘To play in the Champions League is one of my biggest dreams’
Celtic’s summer signing Benjamin Nygren admitted that playing in the Champions League was among his "biggest dreams".
Nygren netted 15 goals and provided four assists to help Nordsjaelland finish fifth last season.
The 23-year-old, who joined Celtic from the Danish side for an undisclosed fee, said: "I’ve heard a lot about Celtic Park on a European night. I’m looking forward to it a lot. To play in the Champions League is one of my biggest dreams.
"I can’t wait and I really want the team to win these next two games so we get into the competition. It would be so nice to play there.
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"I love these types of games. I’ve always loved to play in front of crowds and big games. That’s always been my biggest dream, since I was a kid and it still is my biggest dream.
"To play in the biggest competitions, like the Champions League, the World Cup, the Euros and all of this.
"That’s what I’ve been chasing since I was a kid and I will keep on chasing [that dream] every day, to be involved in those games and to win those games."
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