Brendan Rodgers praises ‘sensational’ Celtic after five-goal win over Slovan Bratislava

Brendan Rodgers hailed a “sensational” performance as Celtic opened their Champions League campaign with a crushing victory over Slovan Bratislava.

The Scottish champions won their opening match for the first time in 13 games at this stage of the tournament and scored five goals in the competition for the first time.

New record signing Arne Engels, worth £11m, was the star performer with an assist and a goal, while Rodgers’ side confirmed their status as bookmakers’ pre-match favourites with a display of pace, power and clinical finishing.

“It was a great night for everyone,” the manager said. “You could just feel it before the game, the feeling in the crowd. I’m so proud of the team.

“The intensity we played with, with and without the ball, was so good. Just everything, the mentality, hunger, eager for more goals, eager for the ball, everyone worked until the end. And we could have had more than five. So it was a very good performance.

“We played well in the first half, got the early goal we wanted, had other chances to be more clinical. I just felt like we had one touch too many. Our ability as a team to play with a touch-pass tempo and with fewer touches speeds up our game.

Rodgers praised Celtic’s performance, which was packed with pace, power and clinical finishing.

Arne Engels scored a penalty to show why Celtic signed him for a record fee.

Striker Kyogo Furuhashi produced a powerful strike to put Celtic two-0 up from close range.

‘So we had to maintain our position, which allowed us to move through the field faster and then get to the places we wanted to be.

‘When we showed them that at half-time and then we got into the second half right from the start, the players were absolutely sensational.’

Defender Liam Scales headed in an Engels corner to spark a frenzy of excitement from the crowd in the 17th minute.

After a first half full of missed chances, Celtic broke loose in the second half by scoring four goals.

Kyogo Furuhashi turned in a Nicolas Kuhn cross just after half-time, after which Alistair Johnston converted an English penalty to score his second goal in two games. His first goal came from a penalty last week against Hearts.

Celtic stifled a brief comeback from the visitors – after a brilliant finish from Kevin Wimmer made it 3-1 – when Daizen Maeda restored Celtic’s three-goal lead in the 70th minute. James Forrest then slotted past fellow substitute Adam Idah to complete a convincing win with four minutes remaining.

English, 21, exuded class, Rodgers said: ‘It was a great identification by our recruitment team because after last year we knew what we wanted. Someone who has all the ideas in terms of ball skills and technical and tactical ability. But at this level you also need physicality and running ability.

“You see his swing, just the power he hits the ball with, it’s just the level he can reach. So I’m really happy for him.”

Celtic will play away matches against Borussia Dortmund and Europa League winners Atalanta in their next two games.

“We know our next few games are really tough, but they’re exciting games for us,” Rodgers said. “Tonight we had to make a really good start to the league. We’ve made a fantastic start.”